There are a lot of really awesome projects that students are involved with here on campus. It’s pretty amazing what the students at this school are capable of doing while being full time students and sometimes even working a part-time or a full-time job on the side. Students here embrace the idea of social justice and realizing that we can change the world, students are engaged in social justice projects and countless student organizations that are dedicated to change things here on campus and abroad. Some, like me, are engaged in research projects, writing novels, producing art, writing philosophy papers, and everything  in between. All of these students deserve a huge pat and the back and as many people as possible to wish them good luck.

Though the answers are different, most, if not all, talk in some form about happiness and about passion.

For a moment, however, I’d like to focus on one project in particular. Recently, I was asked by one of my good friends, Nick Theisen, a senior history major, to do an interview for his project on campus called Beneath the Crown. For those of you who don’t know, Beneath the Crown is a project done on campus inspired by the web project Humans of New York and strives to build a more connected and wholesome understanding of the people of our community here at Gustavus through the use of conversation and photography.

Conducted through random interviews, Nick engages his “guests” by asking them two or three related questions from a list of over a hundred that he has on him at all times. These questions really make you think about yourself and the world around you when you try to answer them while Nick listens and records the dialogue with his camera. After a short conversation, Nick takes your picture and then posts the conversation on Facebook after he types it up on the page a few days later for all of our community to see.

Though it might seem a little embarrassing at first, the beauty of this project is really the scope of questions that Nick asks and the diversity of the people he has asked for an interview. Included on the page are students from all over the country, who are studying abroad, and even teachers. The beauty of this project is in the openness of the guests asked and the answers that they give.

Despite the questions asked, almost everyone is extremely open and is willing to answer the questions truthfully despite the fact that they might not even know Nick or what the project is about. They all give up a small piece of themselves for this interview and trust Nick to report their answers truthfully. And though the answers are different, most, if not all, talk in some form about happiness and about passion.

This correlates nicely to an article that I wrote in November of 2013 where I discussed dreams and why we are all here at Gustavus in the first place – to accomplish our dreams. The best part for me about being a student here at Gustavus is hearing about the variety of people’s dreams, passions, and life goals and being able to rally behind them and give them what support I can to help their dreams come true.

The Beneath the Crown project is a showcase for the things that drive those dreams and goals in all of us and is why I so highly recommend checking out the project as soon as you can if you haven’t already. In March, the project will be doing an exhibit in the campus center regarding the driving passion here at Gustavus that will feature some of Nick’s best work. I highly suggest taking the time to visit the exhibit when it is up. Finally, I will leave you with the question of what is your passion – what is thing that drives you to excel and what do you wish to accomplish with your life?

-Cory Witt