Construction wall bears students’ goals

Wil Schreiber, a second-year history student at Wilfrid Laurier University, wanted to do something different.

After seeing urban artist Candy Chang’s “Before I Die, I Want To” movement on the Internet, Schreiber was inspired and took the liberty to adopt a similar concept for WLU. At midnight on Thursday night, he, along with Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union (WLUSU) marketing co-ordinator Jessie Chang, painted, “Before I graduate, I want to” on one of the black walls surrounding the Terrace, with plenty of space for students to fill their thoughts and aspirations using chalk.

“I thought that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life, just seeing the response that she [Candy Chang] got,” explained Schreiber. “I wanted to do that, it was on my bucket list.”

For Schreiber, this project can be used as a forum for students to express their ideas.

“What we were just trying to do is boost community spirit, and have an opportunity for students to speak their mind and get something off their chest,” he added.

Since Thursday, the wall has been flooded with comments from students, many of which are students’ actual goals and broader statements of inspiration.

But students were also a bit more creative and humorous with their replies.

“Others were just like silly ones, like I want to ‘catch ‘em all’ from Pokemon. I thought that was kind of funny,” continued Schreiber.

Leanne Holland-Brown, dean of students at WLU, liked the idea and appreciated what Schreiber has done.

“This kind of project provides a distraction for students to think of things other than the midterms they have to do, the assignment they have to do,” explained Holland-Brown, noting that it was a fun idea, which really engaged the students.

“For students to actually articulate goals and dreams in such a public way, then maybe students will actually pursue that in a meaningful way.”

However, there has been some concern about the type of comments that have written on the walls, some of which have been suggestive or offensive in nature.

“Like anything, we just need to be mindful of the fact there are some people who are not as responsible or conscientious as they should be,” she added.

“We have to be wary of any abuses with it and ultimately some people will take the liberties to do so,” said Nick Gibson, the president and CEO of WLUSU.

“[However] the response was very, very positive.”
Even though he has enjoyed the project, Gibson added that WLUSU, along with other campus organizations, will take measures to monitor and to ensure that any offensive comments are promptly wiped off.

Schreiber wasn’t expecting the project to receive the outpouring that it did and he mentioned that subsequent projects are in development, though he couldn’t release on the details what they were.

“I have no idea where it’s going to take off, I hope it gets bigger, that would be great,” he said. “If people actually do these things and are actually like touched by it, that’s freaking awesome from my personal perspective.”

When asked what he wanted to before he graduates, Schreiber, initially stumped by the question, replied, “Travel, to be honest with you, to see the world.”

“That’s a really tough question and that’s what I liked about the project,” he concluded.

Written on the wall

Some examples of what Laurier students want to accomplish:

“Love with all my heart”

“Find truth”

“Pillow fight”

“Grow a great ‘stache”

“Make a baby!”

“Catch ‘em all”

“Have an orgy”

“Go streaking”

“Change a life”

“Not be broke”