At American University, students get the opportunity to explore the vibrant nation’s capital around them. Whether night monumenting after a day of classes, cafe hopping for study sessions, or simply recording a “Get Ready With Me” to explore D.C., every moment is captured online. 

Getting to traverse the city is easy for AU students. The U-Pass program provides students with the ability to ride the Metrorail and Metrobus from AU’s campus for trips all across the Washington area through unlimited rides. While students created content about their trips around DC for fun, it also allowed some students to create professional connections and build a platform. 

For Bethany, Content Opened Doors

First-year Bethany Rodriguez was able to create professional connections through her new location in D.C., she thanks her U-Pass for all her trips. “I take advantage and literally go everywhere and all around,” she said.

Through the metro she’s been able to visit countless museums as well. There has never been a “bored day” for Bethany, “it's easy to find and locate where to do things in D.C., so I feel like it's just exciting, there's always something to do.” 

When reflecting on the content she saw prior to coming to AU she said, “there wasn't really a big platform for our school. I looked everywhere on TikTok . . . I didn't see that many AU based ones.”  But with the start of the new academic year, the class of 2030 is creating dorm tours, filming events on campus, and documenting D.C. all around them.

Now, Bethany documents her outfits for the day, what she does on campus, and has begun to create TikToks about where she recommends to go to in D.C. For her, the account is her digital diary and she loves to document with it.

Since she’s started to create, she has had potential future eagle students reach out to her asking her about AU. “I think that it's a nice way for people who were in my position to find information and to see the vibes of the school,” Bethany said. 

Aside from small connections, Bethany has been able to land professional connections thanks to her new location. Recently, she got a PR package from a brand. “A brand reached out to me, and they liked that I was in this city . . . so it's just opening a lot of doors for me, and I think that D.C. is like a great place to also make these little videos,” she said.

In the future, she hopes to focus her content on her major and the opportunities she believes D.C. will allow her to have.  

For Lyla, Virality Brought Connection

Lyla Cunniff has made connections with alumni and created a platform she believes has grown thanks to her D.C. based TikTok videos. 

Through her night monumenting moments, she’s created countless TikToks documenting her trips. “We went all the way down from Lincoln and up to the Capitol, so it was really fun. We also did yoga at the Washington Monument at Sunset, which was really fun too,” she said.

Like Bethany, she thanks the U-Pass and Metro system for allowing her to explore D.C. “It's like such an accessible city, being able to get around so easily is really cool,” she said. 

She noted that her TikTok videos regarding the D.C. metro system got thousands of likes. “A lot of my D.C. content does for some reason kind of take off,” she said.

Although, before she arrived in D.C. she also faced the same challenge of finding the AU community online through TikTok. “I feel like this is like a universal experience for everyone . . .  there wasn't a lot there,” she said. 

When Lyla was first accepted into AU, she received  45,000 likes on a TikTok opening her acceptance letter. Her viral moment continued on one monumenting night, when she decided to jump in the “Ain't always LA” trend. 

This trend has had millions change it into their own version, noting that not everything happens in Los Angeles. For Lyla’s version  it was “someone has to hold down D.C.” 

Through her content, she has been able to connect with fellow AU alumni. “My favorite part about this would be people in the comments saying ‘Wow, I just graduated last year from AU. I hope you have so much fun,’ and a bunch of different comments from AU students,” she said.

This has been her favorite part of content creation and she can’t wait to make more videos to connect with others.

Laila Found Cafe Community

For Laila Nicole Barney, she got into content creation right before she arrived on campus. The transition from Mississippi to D.C. has been full of new adventures and getting out of her comfort zone. 

She now works as a barista at The Dav, AU’s student-run coffee shop. As a barista, she enjoys “cafehopping,” a term to describe trying out new coffee shops. 

“I like to go cafe hopping because in my hometown there's not a lot of different cafes, but here in D.C. there's like so many. So, I like to find good study spaces, good places to get food,” she said.

When she was picking colleges, she believed American was the right fit. “ I was picking colleges with an area that had a sort of like community vibe to it. DC is huge. It's way bigger than expected to be, it makes me feel like I have more opportunities to do so many different things. It's amazing, honestly.” 

However, when she wanted to learn more about AU online through TikTok she said, “it really wasn't helpful for deciding whether or not I wanted to come to AU.” That’s why she wants to take matters into her own hands and show what AU means to her.

Laila has been showcasing her life in D.C. through her “Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.”, a series which stands for “reading, eating, playing, obsessing, recommending, and treating.” She documents eateries around D.C., places she’s “obsessed” with,  and her recommendations on where to go in D.C. for treats. 
 
She also hopes to make more AU related content in hopes of helping others. “I hope to change that aspect of what I’ve seen, to give people who come from a similar rural background as me advice to go way out of their comfort zone and realize that what's on the other side can in fact be better.” 

AU-Tok on the Rise

For Bethany, Lyla, and Laila, their location in D.C. along with content creation, have enabled them to form strong connections with the AU community and grow in their new area. 

As new students, all three know exactly how challenging it can be to find out about AU through the platform, TikTok, but through their help and alongside other creators they hope to change that.

That’s just one example of how American University builds community support for students at any level. By documenting D.C. through the American University lens, old and prospective students get to learn about what AU has to offer and how you can make D.C. your new home.