My name is John Graves and I am a sophomore at Brown University studying Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. I am an avid baseball fan and love playing basically any type of game, from Spikeball to Settlers of Catan.

At Brown, I lead an outreach route for HOPE (homeless advocacy), play on the frisbee team, lead trips for the Brown Outdoor Club, write for the College Hill Independent and research on income inequality.

Peder Schafer is

Kshitij Sachan is

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

During the summer of 2020, two friends and I received a grant to do drive across the country to do data journalism and on the ground reporting about the decline of local news and its effects on specific communities. Specifically, we are interested in how the decline of local newspapers has changed how people get their news, engage with their communities, and make political decisions. We are interested in visiting places where the newspapers are having a variety of success and talking to people in the community about their interaction with the news.

Since we are on a low budget, and part of this project involves driving around the country we are excited about couch surfing as a way to both find a place to stay, as well as meet people in the communities we will be visiting. We can be very flexible guests and will have sleeping bags to sleep on the floor if necessary. We'd love to talk to hosts about their communities, but also will be sure to not intrude too much. We look forward to meeting you!

Music, Movies, and Books

John:
Music: Upbeat/Lyrical pop, a lot of 80's music (Queen, Beatles, etc)
Some Favorite movies: Probably Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, All The Presidents Men, Gifted, Sound of Music
Some Favorite Books: Harry Potter for sure, A Man Called Ove, Secret History, Just Mercy, many others

Peder:

Kshitij:

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

John: Made my own family made movie series about a boy named Craigy Crinkles (that's the best I could think of)

Peder:

Kshitij:

What I Can Share with Hosts

We would love to share about our project this summer with our host, including stories, findings, future ideas. We would also love to interview the host if they were interested, and include them in some of our work, including podcast series, and community profiles.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States