Grace Lee, Special to The Denisonian–
Since the fall semester, Denison University students have began using YUPA, a digital marketplace originally launched at the College of Wooster. The app provides and requests small services such as tutoring, rides, and lawn care.
Julian Pac, the 23-year-old founder and CEO of the app, is from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and graduated from the College of Wooster with a degree in biochemistry last year.
He started a food delivery service, called Woodash, between dorms and realized that there was demand for diverse services, not just meals. Pac launched and distributed the app in 2024, making over 900 transactions at Wooster. Then, he began expanding it to campuses including Denison, Oberlin, Kenyon, and Baldwin Wallace.
Pac said the app allows students to earn extra money and connect with surrounding communities.
Some students have used the app to earn extra income through small tasks.
Hudson Eynon ‘28, a sophomore at Denison majoring in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) and history, said he signed up as a service provider. He learned about the app through Pac’s friend at Kenyon.
Eynon described the work he has done through YUPA as “odd jobs,” tasks such as mowing a lawn for $30 or walking a dog for residents.
“I’d say right now it’s just small things that don’t take long,” he said. “But I think in the future, if more people use the app, someone could almost run their own little business through it.”
For him, the job created unexpected interactions with a resident in Granville. “It wasn’t anything huge, but it’s a connection I wouldn’t have made otherwise,” he said.
Some students are more interested in looking for new requests that they are available to accept. Lila Sauer ‘27 is studying biology with a dance minor. She first noticed YUPA flyers around campus and signed up when her friend recommended it.
She has been looking for available requests rather than offering services herself. Sauer said that she is looking for tasks that fit her schedule, such as driving students to the airport since she has a car on campus.
While she hasn’t taken on any jobs yet, she sees potential for interactions with professors.
“I noticed a professor had posted about needing someone to drive her daughter to dance lessons. I thought it would have been a meaningful opportunity. If my schedule had matched up, I would have loved to do it to connect more with the professors.”
While there have been several tabling events, according to Eynon, five Denison students have registered to be service providers. Both Sauer and Eynon said that the sign-up process for YUPA as a provider took some time, with multiple verification steps. Eynon said that it is “a bit stressful.”
While some students who didn’t sign up for the app expressed privacy concerns about entering personal information, such as a Social Security number, Sauer said she was already accustomed to providing such details due to her previous experience signing up for several payment apps.
Looking ahead, Sauer said that for YUPA to thrive at Denison, it will need more users, not only students, but also faculty and residents who have the resources to post tasks. She noted that the surrounding community could create greater opportunities with more requests and higher service fees they will offer.
While the YUPA marketplace is expanding at Denison, gaining recognition through the tabling events and social media advertisements, its complicated process will be a barrier for students to register as service providers. Some students like Eynon and Sauer expressed their positive views on this app. At the same time, uncertainty follows regarding students’ enthusiasm to earn extra money and completing the lengthy steps to start their small businesses.