This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WMU chapter.
So what’s a little bit about you?
I’m majoring in Gender and Women’s Studies and pursuing a minor in Comparative Religion. It is my fourth year and I’ve still got some time left.
I’m a peer educator through Health Promotion and Education at Sindecuse (Theatre for Community Health). I’ve also been involved in STAND WMU, OutSpoken, Disabilities Services for Students, Residence Life, and I’ll be an RA in the fall.
Everytime I see those crazy people on campus protesting something I see you there voicing against them. Why do you do that?
The last year of school has been extremely difficult for me. I had to take time off to focus on my health. One day, one of the protesters said that I was clearly a miserable person. I realized that they were right; I was miserable. But I realized that I couldn’t be the only person on campus who was miserable. With that, I made it my mission to counteract everything that people at the flagpoles do or say that could upset most students as they pass by. I know I’m not the only person who would like to walk to class on Thursdays without being called a whore and told that I’m going to Hell. So one day I stood up and started telling strangers to have a nice day Everything changed the day a student approached me and told me he had been planning on killing himself and a simple “Have a nice day” made him want to stick around a little longer.
I put myself out there because I know for a fact that I’m not alone in how these groups make me feel. Western boasts about how inclusive we are, yet we have people who show up and trigger students. When I see these groups being defended due to their First Amendment Rights, it reminds me that I have the same right. I, too, can spread a message on campus with my speech. And I plan to continue to spread the love for as long as people are spreading hate.
Do I get shot down? Do people find me extremely annoying? Do I have friends and family members who do not approve of what I’m doing? Of course I do. But the fact of the matter is that I’m doing what I honestly believe will help students. I’m reminding people that they are loved. I cannot stand by and watch as students get hurt by the words of adult bullies.
I want people to go back to their apartments, residence halls, and houses remembering that they matter. I hope they remember me, the annoying girl, more than they remember the cruel things they heard. I hope they remember love and not hate.