On suicide prevention day during my sophomore year at Flagler College I was tasked with coming up with a tabling theme for ASTEP. After meeting with a team, we came up with the idea “Write Your Reason for Staying” where people could write their reason for having hope for the future on bandanas that were hung around Lewis Memorial. After that day, these bandanas were displayed in the Commons for a month but have been tucked away under my dorm bed ever since.

As I was going through my boxes from college, I came across the bandanas and just couldn’t bear to throw them away, seeing as though they had such heartfelt and meaningful messages. I had the idea to make masks out of them but decided against it because I didn’t know how to sew in the slightest. But after posting a story asking what to do with them, I got many responses saying “masks!”…. so, here I am. I have learned the bare basics of sewing and have started making masks out of these beautiful sentiments. (All thanks to Steve Davenport for teaching me and lending me his sewing machine and John Trotter for encouraging me to do what I do best: figure it out and create)