“I feel like I’m not badass enough for tattoos.”

“I talk to my dog like a person.”

“Everyone believes in me — but me.”

These are some of the secrets that Kent State students have already shared as part of the PostSecretU Board currently located on the second floor of the Student Center.

The PostSecretU Board is an opportunity for students to share their stories anonymously by submitting decorated postcards with secrets written on them.

“The idea behind sharing a secret anonymously in this way is that a person will be able to tell someone something that may be weighing on them, without actually telling someone,” said Cody Burke, Active Minds’ public relations co-chair. “This can be a very cathartic process.”

Students can participate in the project by obtaining a postcard from any residence assistant or from a table located on the second floor of the Student Center on Thursday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Collection boxes can be found in all residence hall area desks and the lobby of the DeWeese Health Center until Friday. Postcards can also be submitted to a box located at the Active Minds table on the second floor of the Student Center until Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

The PostSecretU Board will be on display in the Student Center for the rest of the week to help raise awareness about mental health.

“Many people hear the term mental health and automatically think of ‘mental illness,’ but the reality is that we all have mental health and the status of our mental health varies,” said Sharon Briggs, health educator and advisor for Kent State Active Minds. “It is a continuum that fluctuates based on certain experiences.”

PostSecretU is the result of a combination effort between PostSecret and Active Minds to bring the project to college campuses and let people know that it is OK to be open and talk about personal issues.

“It also fosters a means of outreach on campus, letting students know where they can go if they feel they do need to talk about things that may be bothering them or they are experiencing anxiety or depression that need attention,” Briggs said.

Briggs said she would like to continue to receive anonymous postcards and have the PostSecretU Board displayed after Thanksgiving break and even into the spring semester.

Chelsea Furda, vice president of Kent State’s chapter of Active Minds, said she thinks participating is a great way for students to relieve stress.

“Making a PostSecret is a liberating feeling,” Furda said. “The secret you share can be as abstract or concrete as you’d like. You can show off artistic abilities or just jot it down quickly; it is all up to you.”

Contact Kirsten Bowers at [email protected].