After nearly eight months of planning and preparation, the College of Public Programs College Council unveiled their “In My Life Wall” as a community engagement project in ASU’s University Center last month.
Located on the first floor of UCENT, the board spans across a majority of the wall to the right of the campus bookstore. All members of the downtown community are welcome to pick up a piece of chalk and share their lifetime hopes and dreams on the board’s blank lines that complete the phrase “In my life I will…”
ASU alumna and former Taylor Place Community Assistant Samantha Hill had the idea for the chalk wall last December.
“I would hear quite a bit of negative things and I was always trying to come up with ways to have positive reinforcements,” Hill said.
After doing some research, Hill came across the Before I Die wall movement and thought it could have a place downtown at ASU. The walls can be found all over the world on buildings, in parks and inside businesses, including one a couple blocks north of Taylor Place at 813 N. First St.
When Hill took her idea to the COPP college council, students began making her idea a reality.
“It took us months to figure out where we were going to put it, what we wanted it to say and how we wanted everyone, not only within the COPP but also within the ASU downtown community, to be able to participate in it,” Hill said.
COPP College Council Adviser and Coordinator for Student Success Initiatives Amanda Andrew worked with the students to bring the wall into fruition.
“In its international iteration, it is known as the Before I Die wall, but we changed ours to be a little bit more (positive), something that would really highlight people’s goals, the things they want to accomplish and who they want to be in their life as opposed to before their life ends,” Andrew said.
Since the wall was bolted up inside UCENT, Andrew said it has been positively admired by both students and faculty. She said she and members of the COPP college council monitor the wall twice a day and so far there have been no explicit or inappropriate things written on it.
“People are using the wall and writing their goals and their dreams on it, and I think that’s really exciting,” Andrew said. “There has not been anything that has been really negative or down written on it so far. People walk by and they stop and they look at it. So far it has all been received very well.”
Recent graduate and former COPP senator for the Undergraduate Student Government Frank Vasquez also played a key role in making the wall a reality, building it alongside Hill and other members of the COPP college council.
Andrew said Vasquez took it upon himself to find the best place for the wall. Vasquez said he originally became involved to be a part of something that would last downtown.
“It was pretty awesome to see it up,” Vasquez said. “I hope it inspires students.”
It is unclear how long the wall will remain in UCENT, but it is erased every two weeks so new life dreams can be shared. The wall will be erased for the second time on Friday.
“Our goal is to keep it up for as long as we can,” Andrew said. “We do believe the wall is a reflection of our student population and of the downtown community. It isn’t just for students; anybody can use it.”
The COPP also periodically posts photos of the wall on its Facebook page.
“I definitely think it’s a success,” Andrew said. “I have been brought to tears at some points looking at the board and seeing what people have written. I think it really brings out the best in people and the best in our community to show what people are striving towards and what they want to accomplish.”
Andrew said the wall brings a strong sense of community to ASU and she hopes students realize the people who wrote on the wall could be sitting next to them in their classes.
“I look at some of it and I wonder ‘who wrote that?’ Was is an 18-year-old freshman who’s just so excited to be here and is really looking forward to everything that they’ve got going on, or is it a 56-year-old transfer student from Glendale Community College who’s now coming here, and this is what they want to do with their life?” Andrew said. “You don’t know who has written it, but you do know they are a part of your community.”
Contact the reporter at taylor.brightwell@asu.edu
