It’s amazing how much more approachable we become when we do something as simple as wear a name tag.

I just returned from my first lunch in the cafeteria for the year and I’m SO thankful that I remembered to grab my name tag on my way out the door.

As new students are becoming acclimated to their new community, they’re meeting so many different people — and trying to remember so many different names.  Being able to identify us by name, and/or by what we do (or what office we work in – or what ministry we work with), is important.

Wearing a name tag (the one I wear is one of those official “university” badges) can help new and returning student to quickly identify, or recall, our name and what department we work in — likely reminding them of the context of our initial meeting.  And sometimes the familiarity of even one previous encounter can go along way in helping students to feel a little more at peace and connected on campus.

Of course, there are other benefits as well.

As we stop to engage with a student who we may already know, everyone else around them now has the chance to learn our name and what we do (at least according to our title) as we chat with their friend (which establishes some levels of familiarity and trust — which is like gold).

Having a name tag on can also give students that extra bit of confidence that they might need in order to strike up a conversation with us…

Or it may serve to spark a conversation (as they might have a friend with the same last name, or have been curious about our department or ministry, etc.).

Doing what we can to make connecting with students as easy as possible should be one of our chief goals during these first few weeks of class.

Now if we could only get students to wear name tags — well into the semester — than we’d really be on our way to making life connections a bit easier!

What do you think?

I’d love to hear about what you do to help make connecting with students easier!