You are your choices

‘Choices project’ examines the choices we make and their effects

By Christina Lieffring

Just past the entrance to Yardley Hall, handwritten notes were taped onto a se­ries of bulletin boards. Most of them were anonymous, ranging from the amusing, “Sometimes I don’t know what I want to do with my life and it scares the s**t out of me,” to the painfully earnest; one said they chose to come to the college because their boss committed suicide.

That kind of honesty is not lost on stu­dent Theresa Delarosa.

“People are allowing themselves to be vulnerable and write out legit stuff that’s happened to them and that’s really brave of people to do that,” said Delarosa.

Maureen Fitzpatrick, one of the orga­nizers of the project, said she was pleas­antly surprised by how honest many of the entries were and the diversity of per­sonalities and experiences they reflect.

“They reflect legitimate choices and the kind of choices that you know we’re faced with; decisions that are both dra­matic and seemingly mundane every day,” said Fitzpatrick.

The project was inspired by “The Oth­er Wes Moore,” this semester’s Common Read that examines two men named Wes Moore, their decisions and the conse­quences of their actions.

“They each make different choices in part because of who they are as individu­als, but in part because of the choices that are presented to them in life,” said Fitz­patrick. “And their lives go in drastically different directions.”

It was also inspired by “The Strang­ers Project,” where a young man asked strangers in New York to share a story from their life with him.

“We walk by hundreds of people ev­ery day on this campus,” said Fitzpatrick, “and we have no idea really what’s go­ing on in their lives and what choices they made.”

Reading their fellow counterparts’ submissions can help students relate through their shared experiences.

“It helps people see that other people are going through things too, that they’re not alone,” said student Max Ledom.

Madison Cook was especially moved by a middle-aged woman’s post about choosing to continue her education in or­der to become a doctor.

“It’s inspiring,” said Cook. “It kind of shows that it doesn’t matter what age you are, you can go back and accomplish something.”

The display was taken down Friday, Oct. 31, but Fitzpatrick hopes it will either become a recurring event or inspire other interactive displays on campus.