This week, University of Alabama senior Jamie Causey started reading syllabi from her classes and cried when she talked on the phone with her mom. She shared her experience on TikTok.

“We first go to school because of education, but sometimes it’s very hard to not have that key set of friends to share your life with,” the 21-year-old Alexander City native said in a recent video regarding her five classes this semester. “I just wanted to post this to be real and honest, but also encourage anyone that I feel the same way you do.”

Causey told AL.com she was inspired to start sharing her stories on TikTok after being a “silent scroller.”

“If I can help one person scrolling by feel better about themselves, then I’ve done what I need to do,” she said.

Since August, many of Causey’s videos chronicling her last year of college have gone viral. The video about the call to her mom generated one million views in a day.

Her first video encouraging students who did not to join a sorority has more than 800,000 views and comments from Alabama TikTok influencers like Ophelia “MamaTot” Nichols.

“We can make a TikTok sorority,” Nichols commented. “I’ll be the house mom and we’ll accept everyone!”

There are 34,389 undergraduates enrolled for the fall 2024 semester at the University of Alabama, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

The comments show viewers relate to her unvarnished talks about navigating college life. Causey has two more semesters left at UA, majoring in public relations with a minor in digital, public and professional writing.

She described the struggle of feeling “unseen” and that she’s missing out for not joining a sorority due to finances.

“I just want you to know that you’re valid and you’re seen,” Causey said. “And you are worthy of attention.”

Her passion for UA began with a campus visit when she was eight.

“Once I stepped on campus, then it was just home for me,” Causey said. “It’s perfect for my major, what I want to do, but also, I know it’s where I can grow as a person.”

Causey shared she has faced mobility issues due to past knee and foot surgeries, and she sometimes deals with bullies. All of her challenges, she said, have made her stronger.

“I’m a first-generation student,” Causey said. “I was blessed to be able to be here. So I just push through and I seek guidance from God.”

Nate Owens, program coordinator at UA’s First Gen+, said about 20% – or one in five – of undergraduates at UA are first-generation college students.

Causey said she is most proud to have been named the housing residential communities’ desk assistant of the year for the second time.

“I get to impact freshmen,” she said. “I know how it is, and I get to reach so many people, young and old, in that position.

Once Causey graduates this summer, she must adjust what she posts on social media. She’ll have to transition from a Bama senior to a Bama graduate.

“I’ve realized the feelings I’m feeling are not oriented to college,” she said. “I just want to show what regular life is. I don’t live a glamour lifestyle, and I just want people to feel like they are represented. So I’m hoping my videos can just change to be real life, relatable content and just see where life leads. If anything, it can be a diary for my kids to look at when I’m older.”