College to get photo project

The+Dear+World+photo-storytelling+project+comes+to+AACC+April+11.

Photo courtesy of Dear World

The Dear World photo-storytelling project comes to AACC April 11.

Elizabeth Spearman, Campus Life Editor

The photo-storytelling project Dear World is coming to AACC on April 11 to 12.

During the event, students will write words on each other’s skin to tell their stories, share their passions and deliver their message to the world.

The words will answer the question: “If you had one story to share with the world, what would you say?”

“Typically we get students and faculty talking about overcoming hard times, mental illness [and] talking about being a first- generation student,” Izzy Morrison, the national program coordinator for Dear World, said.

Dear World started in New Orleans in 2009 and has visited college campuses around the world, including 50 in 2016. The April event will be Dear World’s first visit to AACC.

“I think it is important for this project to come to AACC,” Leslie Cook, the student engagement specialist at AACC, said. “It seems that after the election and inauguration that emotions and anxieties are running high and hopefully this will show how we can all come together and have things in common.”

The project will take place in three stages. The first stage will be getting together 50 student leaders who will be photographed in a special VIP shoot.

The second stage will take place in the dining hall on April 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to talk to each other about their personal stories and then have their photos taken.

The third stage will feature six students with the most interesting stories. The stories will be determined by the Dear World coordinator.Those six stories will also be told on April 12 at 7 p.m.

Dear World has photographed Boston Marathon survivors and Syrian refugees.