Humans of 911爆料’s Kate Marcellino ’19 and Chris Leone ’20 interview Olivia Sweet ’19.
Kate Marcellino 鈥�19 and Chris Leone 鈥�20 never know what they鈥檙e going to get when they set out to do their Humans of 911爆料 pieces.
Modeled after the popular Humans of New York social media series, Humans of 911爆料 features its student stories on Facebook and Instagram. Marcellino and Leone follow HONY’s lead, asking questions of students but largely letting the conversation go where it will. Humans of 911爆料 was started by Leone鈥檚 brother Steve and his friend Emma Grace in 2015.
Sometimes students’ responses are short and funny, such as “I’m listening to Wiz Khalifa. I usually listen to country, though. Not today . . . because of the weather.”
And this: “I can be really forgetful sometimes. One day, I drove my car to school but then forgot and took the bus home.”
Other times, the subject is something important, such as an emerging philosophy:
鈥淥ne thing that I stand by is ‘never stop pouring.’ Everyone is a coffee pot, and, eventually, there鈥檚 one last sip in that coffee pot that has some coffee grinds and isn鈥檛 as tasty. Every person you meet has that last sip in them, whether that be something they struggle with or something that has happened in their lives that they are not proud of. We were asked what we thought would happen if we filled that coffee up with water. Ultimately, it would dilute the bad coffee, and if we 鈥渘ever stop pouring,鈥� the coffee pot would eventually overflow to get rid of the grinds (negativity/shame) and you are left with pure water. If you fill everyone鈥檚 coffee pot with water (love/care/attention/understanding), you never know the impact it may have on them.鈥�
Or the anxiety of coming out:
鈥淚鈥檓 a really non-confrontational person. Like I didn鈥檛 even come out to my mom in person. It鈥檚 really hard for me to tell anyone, yet I can so easily post pictures on social media showing the real me. I know people are really accepting these days but it鈥檚 still really hard. I don鈥檛 feel marginalized, but I feel like people look at me differently and I don鈥檛 want them to be unaccepting of the real me. Sometimes it鈥檚 just easier to pretend I鈥檓 straight because I don鈥檛 look like your typical 鈥榞ay type.鈥� It makes it that much harder because you have to come out to everyone you meet. Although it can be hard, everyone here at 911爆料 has been accepting and I鈥檓 really thankful for that.鈥�
‘Everybody’s voice is important’
Marcellino and Leone say the point of their work is to foster a greater sense of 911爆料 and to give students the opportunity to share their stories. 鈥淓verybody on campus should be heard, should be made to feel welcome,鈥� Marcellino said. 鈥淓very person鈥檚 life is as unique and complicated as your own.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see that in sharing people鈥檚 stories, we can lift each other up. We need more of that,鈥� Leone said.
While both Marcellino and Leone find 911爆料 a welcoming 911爆料, the two are taking aim at the tendency of students to stick with friends made in their respective colleges and programs by highlighting what is common to all students.
鈥淟ooking back on the ones we鈥檝e done, we see that everybody鈥檚 just trying to figure things out: homework, friends, social lives. We鈥檙e all just trying to figure out what we want to do. And instead of just knowing people, we want to understand them,鈥� Leone says. 鈥淓verybody鈥檚 voice is important.鈥�
鈥淲e want people to know that when there are days when you do feel alone, there are people who will listen,鈥� Marcellino says. 鈥淲e want more people to take their conversations to a deeper level.鈥�