On Tuesday, April 4, Millersville hosted an event called Dear World. Dear World is an event to get people talking about themselves and their personal stories, which helps people of our campus to better know each other. I got the privilege to talk with some of these people and have them tell me their stories:
Aaron Jaffe: “I had nowhere to hide”
“My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and at first it was okay because she knew and she still knew who I was. And then when I was a sophomore, I was walking on campus and I called my mom to talk. I asked about how my grandma was doing and she said that she had forgotten who my mom was. It was then that I realized that my grandma wouldn’t recognize me and 19 years of my life would be erased from her mind. I would be a stranger. I began to cry in an open public area with nowhere to hide. I just had to sit down and cry with people walking past. I couldn’t find a place hide.”
Joe Asbury: “I accept Marauder Gold”
“I was the first person to come up with Marauder Gold joke, ‘Do you accept Marauder Gold?’ In my first computer science class I told the joke, this group of guys started losing it. It’s just amazing that one joke made my entire group of friends.”
Jessica Stokes: “She’d say ‘scrub the base boards'” // “I got a scooter on 9/11/2001”
“My grandma would come down to visit and I remember her clearly, but what I most remember is she would come and scrub the kitchen floor. If she saw me and my sister weren’t doing anything she would throw us a rag and say “scrub the base boards”. She was a big part of my life. We were supposed to go to NY the day she died, but we pushed it off to the following weekend and her and her sister ended up dying in an accident.”
“September 11, 2001, was my 6th birthday and I got a scooter. I was always happy on that day while everyone else is mourning, and it made me feel guilty year after year. As I grew up and understood more, it helped me decide which field I would go to go into, which is why my major is emergency management.”
Anonymous: “Do you want to have a catch?”
“When I was little my mom passed away, and with my white dad raising three biracial girls, when we went out we were judged, and people said that he couldn’t understand us since he’s not a minority. A social worker actually put a camera in our house to try and find a reason to get us out of there. My dad also suffered from Bipolar Disorder and depression, and one year he didn’t want to leave the house. In fifth grade he would wait for me after school and exit the house and ask, ‘Do you want to have a catch?’ He would sit on the porch and we would just pass the ball back and forth. And I loved those moments because he got out of the house, and I got to spend time with him without us being judged.”
Francesca Wroten: “She said, ‘I’m pretty for a big girl.'”
“I always struggled with my self-esteem because I come from a line of obesity, and it started in elementary when it was prominent that I was heavier. I didn’t really have any problems in middle school, but it got worse in high school, and everyone started getting friends, and boyfriends. And people would talk to me and say all this stuff just to talk to my other friends.
I live with my grandparents now and I when I finally feel good about myself my grandma will put me down. It’s someone I’m suppose to be looking up to and she’s always putting me down by saying things like, ‘I’m pretty for a big girl.'”
Markisha Peace: “Bullets changed me” // “11-27-15”
“My nephew was murdered on Black Friday. He was a community activist, and he was murdered out of jealously and unnecessary anger. He had a Superman symbol on his chest. He referred to himself as our family’s superman, he always encouraged our family to do positive things.”
To learn more about Dear World check out this link: http://dearworld.me/
All photos courtesy of the Dear World Team