PearedUp

PearedUp Logo

Inspiration

We wanted to create something that solves a real problem students deal with all the time: studying can feel isolating, stressful, and unorganized.

Our inspiration came from a few key ideas:

1. Students often struggle to find classmates in the same courses.

2. Studying alone can make learning feel harder and less motivating.

3. Many students need both peer support and quick academic help.

4. We wanted to make learning feel more collaborative, accessible, and effective.

That led us to build PearedUp, a platform designed to help students connect, form study groups, and get support from AI when they need it.

What it does

PearedUp is a student-focused learning platform that makes studying more social and more productive.

The platform allows students to:

1. Upload syllabi or course materials

2. Connect with classmates in similar classes

3. Form study groups and collaborate

Use an AI study chatbot to review material and prepare for class

The main goal is to combine:

1. Peer-to-peer learning

2. Academic collaboration

3. AI-powered study support

How we built it

We built PearedUp as a full-stack web application with several core parts working together.

Main pieces of the project:

1. A frontend for user interaction and navigation

2. A backend to manage logic and application flow

3. MongoDB for storing user accounts and data

4. AI integration for the study chatbot

Our development process included:

Building account creation functionality

1. Connecting the app to MongoDB

2. Managing stored user data

3. Integrating AI features into the platform

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was getting the backend and database to work smoothly together.

Some of the main challenges included:

 1. Building the backend structure in a limited amount of time

 2. Connecting MongoDB correctly and troubleshooting errors

 3. Handling account creation and user data storage

 4. Making sure the AI integration worked alongside the database

 5. Keeping the scope realistic during a hackathon

Because of time constraints, we had to focus on the most important features and avoid making the project too large.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we turned a meaningful idea into a working student-focused project.

Some of our biggest accomplishments were:

1. Creating a platform built around real student needs

2. Getting account storage and data handling to work

3. Combining peer learning with AI support

4. Building a project with both technical value and practical purpose

We are also proud that the project has a clear mission: helping students feel less alone while studying.

What we learned

1. This project taught us a lot both technically and as a team.

2. Some of our biggest takeaways were:

3. How backend systems connect with databases like MongoDB

4. How important teamwork and communication are

5. How GitHub workflow affects collaboration during fast-paced development

6. Why scope management is critical in a hackathon setting

We learned that building a smaller, functional product is often better than trying to do too much at once.

What's next for PearedUp

We want to continue improving PearedUp and make it even more useful for students.

Our next steps include:

1. Improving student matching

2. Adding stronger study group features

3. Expanding the AI chatbot’s capabilities

4.Making the platform more polished and user-friendly

Our long-term vision is to turn PearedUp into a platform students could genuinely use in their everyday academic lives.