Rocking out
One professor decided to combine her artistic skills and some garden-variety stones to let her students know someone cares and supports them during the rocky times at college.
11/30/2018 12:02 AM
College gives students a chance to learn, explore and grow but there are also concerns about fitting in and making friends. Plus, there can be worries about academic rigor, especially in a STEM field.
To help her students with these apprehensions, Assistant Professor of Nursing Deborah Daniels decided to rock her inner artist. She noticed some nursing-related rock art projects on Pinterest and decided to create some to leave outside a nursing orientation.
“I wanted to make this first nursing orientation something special,” said Daniels, who is in her first year coordinating sophomore nursing courses and clinical experiences. “The rocks were something to bring that excitement in.”
Peer support is especially important for students in nursing and other STEM fields, helping them get and stay emotionally invested in college and the curriculum.
“I tell them ‘make sure you have someone looking out for you.’ It’s more about trying to include everybody and making sure everybody has a good, supportive peer group. The idea is spreading random acts of kindness, but I wanted to do it for my nursing students.”
While the images on the rocks are simple, the multilevel surface didn’t make for easy work, especially when painting miniature figures such as angels. Daniels admitted it took a long time to complete a couple hundred rocks — most of which she did herself — so she enlisted her colleagues’ aid at faculty meetings.
She put the finished pieces around campus as a means of building community with her students. She hoped they would discover her artwork, take pictures and post the results on social media using the hashtag BU ROCKS. But there was an unexpected setback.
“A lot of them saw the rocks but didn’t pick them up . . . I think they didn’t want to steal them,” Daniels said. “Afterwards, I told them, ‘those are for you.’”
One student who wasn’t hesitant about acquiring the rocks was nursing major Lauren Tobolic ’20, who found at least 15 in front of her sorority house (Pi Beta Phi) and along the quad.
“I didn’t know what was going on at first, but honestly, it made my day,” Tobolic said. “I have not seen this since being (at Bradley) so it was a cute and fun way of welcoming everyone back ‘home.’ I wanted to collect as many as I could to see all the cool designs.”
Daniels said someone who’d found a rock sent it to her via intercampus mail so she could experience the thrill of discovery. All of her colleagues who found or were given rocks still have them on their desks, she said.
“If I can put something out that encourages someone to keep pushing forward, that’s a win.”
Her husband’s interest in a local Facebook page about painted rocks and her young daughter’s chance discovery inspired Daniels. The Facebook page WTP Rocks asks people to paint rocks and then leave them out in central Illinois (Woodford, Tazewell and Peoria counties) to spread beauty and inspiration. Part of a nationwide movement, the group wants people of all ages to get involved.
Her daughter’s discovery of just such an art rock brought the idea home. Daniels said the girl even slept with her find. “It’s so important to her and she loves (it) because a stranger made it for her.”
Along with the emotional boost the rocks provide, Daniels said there are other benefits. “It’s nice just to hold them. They’re cute.”
— Bob Grimson ’81