Growing the HFC community would start with being present on Reddit as a real person, and not a brand. Instead of jumping straight into promotion, the focus would be on participating in college, and Gen Z, focused subreddits I already follow and understand. That means answering questions and joining conversations about internships, and early-career stress in a genuinely helpful way. On Reddit, trust comes first, and without it, nothing else sticks. As that presence builds, HFC would come up naturally in conversations where it actually fits, especially when people are frustrated with unpaid internships or unsure how to get experience during the school year. Rather than leading with links or promotional language, it would be mentioned the same way you’d mention anything that’s actually been useful, letting curiosity drive any follow-up. Growth would also involve coordinating a small group of Reddit content creators who already know the platform and spend time in these communities. The goal wouldn’t be to script posts, but to align on tone and values so everything stays organic and human. At the same time, a dedicated HFC subreddit could grow into a resource hub with AMAs, advice threads, and real student stories instead of feeling like a promo page. Overall, the approach would stay hands-on and flexible, paying close attention to what people respond to and adjusting based on that feedback. After years of being on Reddit, it’s clear that growth only happens when people feel heard and see real contributions, not when someone is just trying to be visible.

I’d focus on subreddits I already spend time in and genuinely understand, like r/college, r/collegegrad, r/internships, and r/ApplyingToCollege. I’ve been in those communities during decision season, internship hunts, and late-night stress scrolling, so I know the tone and the kinds of questions that come up over and over again. A lot of people aren’t actually looking for a perfect answer, and just want to hear from someone who’s been in the same position and figured something out. That’s why I’d show up as a regular user first and not try to “promote” anything because I understand what it is like to constantly have something being advertised when not needed. I’d answer questions the way I normally would, based on what I’ve seen and experienced, and only bring up Home From College when it genuinely fits the conversation. I also spend time in school-specific subreddits, where people are more candid about campus jobs, side income, and summer plans, and those spaces are especially sensitive to anything that feels fake or sponsored. I’m really intentional about how Reddit works, so I wouldn’t drop links unless someone asked, and I’d never copy-paste comments or push the platform where it doesn’t belong. Most of the time it would just come up naturally, like sharing how I was tired of unpaid internships and found short-term brand work that actually fit around classes. My goal would be to contribute in a way that feels real and helpful, because after being in these communities for years, it’s obvious that authenticity is what people respond to and trust.

On my old Reddit account (lost the email), I made a post during Ivy League decision season that unexpectedly blew up. It was about Yale admissions, with some comparisons to Harvard and the Ivy League more broadly. I wrote about how I had initially framed myself as a “Harvard-type” applicant that was stacking prestige and trying to sound impressive, and how that mindset completely backfired. I contrasted that with Yale’s emphasis (at least from my experience and interviews) on intellectual curiosity, and community engagement not just what you’ve done. It hit the front page of the subreddit, got thousands of upvotes, and turned into a massive comment thread with people arguing Yale vs. Harvard admissions philosophy. A few days later, I got a message from someone with a yale.edu email address saying they’d seen the post circulating internally in their office and appreciated how thoughtfully it captured what they try (and often fail) to communicate to applicants. They didn’t say it affected anything formally, but they thanked me for writing it and encouraged me to keep sharing that perspective.