Yale-NUS Lunch Tag returns to the community

Eating is a universal experience with the power to build and strengthen bonds among people. In the Yale-NUS community, the long-lasting Lunch Tag initiative encapsulates this experience.

Lunch Tag is an initiative that allows students, alumni, staff, and faculty to sign up online and be randomly paired up with another Yale-NUS community member. The two are then encouraged to meet over a meal or a coffee, enabling a new connection to be forged. One of the College’s lasting traditions, the initiative has been running since 2014 and new volunteers are continually recruited to manage it.

“I had my first Lunch Tag in my first semester back in 2019 and I remember eagerly looking forward to each new match. I found so much joy in getting to know people from other class years that I probably wouldn’t have encountered otherwise and learned more about the Yale-NUS community and Singapore at large,” said Tanya Sharma (Class of 2023), the current organiser of Lunch Tag. “I think of it as being so closely tied to Yale-NUS’ spirit of community and openness, as fostered by conversations in the dining hall,” she added.

She also described Lunch Tag as a low-pressure way to learn more about the incredibly interesting backgrounds and experiences of others in the community. “The beauty of Lunch Tag lies in how easy it makes getting to know people on campus. You don’t need to have anything in common with your match, just the shared experience of being at Yale-NUS is enough,” she explained.

Over the years, the tradition of Lunch Tag has expanded and gone through many iterations. For example, even in the face of COVID-19 restrictions, Lunch Tag participants continued to meet on Zoom to help include students who were overseas or in quarantine. Furthermore, the initiative broadened to include off-campus meetings between Yale-NUS alumni and current students. “I’ve also heard of some alumni who have tried to adapt similar concepts within their workplace — continuing the wonderful spirit of Lunch Tag,” Tanya added.

Ethan Tan’s (Class of 2025) lunch tag at University Town. Lunch tag meals can happen on campus, off campus, or at other locations. Image provided by Ethan Tan.

Ethan Tan (Class of 2025) signed up for a variation of Lunch Tag that aimed to connect Yale-NUS students with peers from NUS College (NUSC). “It was great meeting someone with very similar interests in music, despite us hailing from different backgrounds. It was also interesting learning about the overlaps between the Yale-NUS Common Curriculum and the NUSC Common Modules,” he shared. Ethan also valued the chance to expand his social circle beyond Yale-NUS’ small cohort size and build relationships with students living in other residential colleges in University Town.

Aaron Sean Tan (Class of 2023), who participated in Lunch Tag. Image provided by Aaron Sean Tan.

Wanting to know more people in the community, learn from others and potentially help newer batches of students by imparting academic advice, Aaron Sean Tan (Class of 2023) signed up for multiple Lunch Tags. “My favourite memory was when we went out for a meal together and I got to learn about my Lunch Tag partner’s culture; they opened up about their favourite native foods and we went to eat that food,” Aaron said.

“Lunch Tag exists to increase the strong sense of community we have at Yale-NUS,” Aaron added.

Since 2020, Lunch Tag has had over 270 participants and assigned over 520 pairings. The tradition will continue, and new editions of Lunch Tag will be launched in the upcoming academic years.