Social Tips ... From Math Students

Robert K. Nishihara '13 and Yiren Lu '13 are on a mission. The two math concentrators and Adams House residents are attempting to empower students to improve their social skills.

And like any smart revolutionaries, they're using the web. In October, Nishihara and Lu founded idontdateathletes.com, a blog offering advice on handling social situations. Although their backgrounds would cause many to write off the two as anti-social, they said that they feel their experiences give them a unique perspective on improving social behavior.

"It's really ironic that two math majors are writing a blog on social skills, because math and science majors are generally the nerdy, anti-social crowd," Nishihara said. "It's not that we have exceptional social skills. If you asked her or me, it's that we've gone through the process of acquiring social skills."

While Nishihara said that he would love to reach as large an audience as possible, he also said the main goal of his blog is simply education.

"I want everyone to know that you can constantly improve yourself in every aspect of life—academically, physically, socially, morally, etc.," Nishihara said. "You should constantly strive to be better."