Students share inner thoughts on postcards

UPC displayed postcards made by students, revealing secrets and hidden thoughts of those who participated. The cards were made throughout last week, and were showcased at the GUC Friday.

Last week the University Program Council hosted a special week-long event in the GUC where students could create their own postcard secret and mail-in. They were displayed in the GUC Atrium for all to see on Friday.

In 2003, Frank Warren took a trip to Paris, France. His first night there sparked the idea for PostSecret. While staying at a hotel, he dreamed that the postcards he had bought earlier at a local shop had messages on the backs. Upon waking he took the blank postcards and tried to replicate them as he saw in his dream.

In 2004 he started the “Reluctant Oracle” project. Every Sunday Warren would create a message and release it to the world for discovery. The messages created were a hit, and PostSecret was launched in the same year.

“It’s therapeutic for anyone to send in a postcard to share,” said Jennifer Craven, the cultural and education chair of UPC.

A majority of the secrets sent to PostSecret are very personal; things that have never been spoken out loud.

It was very exciting for some students to learn that PostSecret had made its way to UNA, but some students had never even heard of it.

Freshman Savannah Comer, a student at UNA, has been following PostSecret for a few years now. Comer happened upon PostSecret while surfing the Internet.

“It intrigued me because the posts were so personal,” she said. “There are some funny ones, but a lot of the secrets are life-shattering for these people.”

She went on to say that she liked the Suicide Hotline. Hopeline (1-800-SUICIDE) is a national suicide hotline dedicated to helping those who feel like they have no other option left.

Warren also engages in PostSecret Live, a live presentation of postcards not published, and interactive secret sharing with colleges across the nation.

Comer believes PostSecret Live would be great for the UNA student body.

“People are too afraid to admit their true selves to themselves,” she said. “Even if nobody knows the person behind the secret, it’s liberating to know that somebody out there knows your secret.”