Matt Vogel explains why you see the same 5 people on campus, over and over again

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ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 15, 2026) — Matt Vogel, associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice, is an expert in urban psychology, social demography and population dynamics.

Vogel answers today's question: Why do I always see the same 5 people around campus?

Vogel: It might seem odd to keep running into the same handful of people on a campus with thousands of students, staff and faculty, but when you stop to think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense.  

We are creatures of habit. Most of us follow pretty predictable (and frankly, dull) routines. We arrive on campus around the same time each day, take the same routes to and from classes, grab coffee or lunch at similar times, and leave campus around the same time and in the same way. Other people have their own idiosyncratic routines that they follow throughout the week. That means your daily patterns repeatedly overlap with those of a relatively small subset of the campus population. And once you start recognizing someone, you’re probably more likely to notice them the next time you see them.  

So, those five familiar faces you mentioned probably aren’t following you around. It’s just that a university of thousands of people is actually made up of lots of smaller, overlapping social and spatial worlds.  

When I was a student here many, many years ago, I found that to be quite reassuring. Those familiar faces made campus feel a bit smaller and less anonymous. The next time you see one of those faces, I’d encourage you to introduce yourself, share a kind word and perhaps make campus feel a bit smaller and a little more connected. After all, you’re probably one of those five faces for someone else, too.