Faculty of Arts works to beat the November blues
Photo by Héloïse Rodriguez-Qizilbash
By now, you might begin to feel the school year dragging on. November is a difficult month for students, which is why Nicolette Addesa, vp university affairs of the Students’ Association of the Faculty of Arts (SAFA), created the #souriezUOsmiles campaign, happening now until January.
“I had this epiphany during the summer. The month of November is usually a very stressful period for students,” Adessa said. “We’re very lucky to have such a beautiful campus, but right now, it’s a very awkward period, and the term ‘concrete jungle’ really hits home. And that’s when I think that students really need to smile.”
What began as a mental health campaign quickly turned into a “paying it forward” campaign. To participate, students can tweet using the hashtag #souriezUOsmiles or email Adessa about what they love about the U of O at [email protected]. Students can send anything that helps create a positive sharing space. This can include the enjoyment of eating a grilled cheese sandwich or someone holding the door open for you.
“I really want to put an emphasis on the positive sharing space because it’s easier to complain than to compliment,” she said. “I wanted to flip that and to challenge that idea.”
So far, there have been many tweets, though Addesa is trying to reach out more to the Francophones.
The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha also inspired the campaign. The book is basically a collection of little things that make life seem more beautiful. Parischa will be speaking at the U of O on Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available in the SAFA office and the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa office.
“The book was such an inspiration that I thought, ‘Who better than the author himself to come and explain his story and to continue to motivate us to think positively?’” Addesa said. “It’ll be very interactive—we have so many prizes that we’re giving out.”
In addition to the Twitter feed and author event, there will be showcases of student contributions on display on the first floor of Simard Hall. The display is around the corner from the SASS Mentoring Centre and Adessa hopes this will remind and encourage students to use services available on campus. The campaign has already started to have a positive influence.
“I was at Café Alt, and this guy comes up to me to ask, ‘Are you the girl who was putting up posters everywhere?’ He explained to me that these posters gave him a good excuse to stop studying,” Adessa said.
She said he scanned the barcode on the poster, wrote ‘paying it forward’ on the back of it, and approached a group of strangers to give them the poster.
“That made me smile, and it’s a perfect example of passing it forward,” she said.
So next time something makes you smile on campus, you can tweet it. Paying it forward is the best way to brighten up this dreary midterm month for everyone,” Adessa said.
“School is tough,“ she said. “But I just want to spread smiles on campus. It’s OK, life is tough, but smiling through it will make it just a little bit easier.”
