This is a sponsored post as part of the Let your Natural Beauty Shine Through with Zeno & Her Campus program.
Many of us feel compelled to reach out to the sick, to young children, and to the elderly. What about each other? Who looks out for college students?
1 out of 10 college students considers suicide each year. In fact, at my school, the College of William & Mary, we have had 3 suicides in just 12 months. The one question we all asked was, “Why?”
In light of the recent deaths at my college and with final exams looming over our heads, I wanted to extend support to the people who may need it most—my fellow students. My idea involved 1) coloring books,2) notes of encouragement, and 3) the library.
This past Saturday, I spent the entire afternoon coloring in my coloring book…. until my fingers were stained with crayon wax. I filled the pages with encouraging messages such as:
“Dear William & Mary Student: Since you opened this book, you probably have a lot of hard work ahead of you. Remember: You are beautiful, and you are loved. Sweating the small stuff simply isn’t worth it—college will be over before you know it! Here’s an idea: Take 5 minutes and treat yourself to an ice cream from Baskin Robbins today. You deserve it.”
… and funny messages like:
“Dear William & Mary Student: If you’re ever feeling swamped with work, remember—you can always drop out and marry Prince Harry.”
I took my colorful pages to our campus’s library on a Sunday morning, right before it opened for the day. There were about 75 students outside waiting for the doors to unlock. You guessed it– it’s fin
als week! Once inside, I climbed up to the 3rd floor (the silent floor where the most stress-ridden students camp out), and I began roaming up and down the aisles, hiding my colorful, whimsical pages inside the most dull, boring-looking books. After about 30 minutes, I was out of my colorful pictures, and the librarian was starting to give me weird looks. Mission accomplished.
Why did I do this? I pictured all of the stressed-out students who would be in the library, cracking open those thick, dry books, and I imagined that whoever would be opening such a book would likely have a lot of work on their plate. If my pictures and corny messages could even bring a glimmer of hope to a single student who felt overwhelmed, then I have done my job. To me, that glimmer of hope is something beautiful.