Student working to create safe night-time study spot

Startup Dunedin’s Audacious programme celebrates University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic students who are busy thinking about the next big business idea. This week in the series, The Star reporter Simon Henderson talks to a student who wants to reward good study habits.

The idea started with a simple thought.

What if going out did not mean having to drink or feeling required to spend money on a meal.

First Minute founder Maria Sokolova said she wanted to create an alcohol-free space for "night owls" who wished to study in a space that promoted a sense of wellbeing and community for students.

"One night I was just at home and I didn’t feel like drinking or anything but still wanted to go out, and I started listing off spaces in my head that would allow me to just chill out and have a tea or something, and nothing really came to mind."

She thought about creating a space that would encourage good study habits and help students plan out their work in a healthy way, even if they were doing it late at night.

The name First Minute was a play on words from "last minute" — "so instead of doing stuff last minute, doing it first minute."

Miss Sokolova said she wanted to find a space that would be affordable for students and was considering a subscription model so students did not feel forced to buy food or drinks while they were there.

In order to test whether the subscription model worked, she was planning to host study sessions for students at cafes after they had closed.

Another component of the sessions would be creating reward cards where students could set goals.

"If they complete that goal during that study session, they get a little stamp and then get rewards after they complete a few goals."

This was a way of providing validation that could have tangible benefits for students’ wellbeing.

Although there were some spaces at the university such as the library where students could study, Miss Sokolova said she wanted to create a space that was a "third place".

"A place that is away from home and from work or uni, so I feel like that is the best for socialising."

Another factor was that some of those spaces available at the university all hours were not staffed.

"So that means that apart from Campus Watch walking around every now and again, you are in that space alone or with a couple of people."

While she continued to investigate a physical space, to begin with Miss Sokolova was planning to launch the reward card system.

One of her inspirations was the Manuscript Cafe in Tokyo, Japan.

At this cafe you write down the task you are planning to do, give it to a staff member, and before you leave you have to have finished your task.

"The employees will actually keep you accountable for that task."