If youâve ever found a bright sticky note on campus with words of encouragement, inspiration, or important information, it was probably left by Mary Lippa â23. Her colorful notes have inspired many of her fellow ÂéĥıAVs, as well as the development of a new Recognized Student Organization that promotes awareness of issues such as mental health.
When Mary Lippa â23 was a junior in high school, she lost someone close to her. She began thinking about how she could do something to make a positive impact in her own life and on the lives of others.
Just a few days after beginning her first year at the University of New Haven, Lippa began offering support and encouragement to her fellow ÂéĥıAVs in the form of sticky notes she posted around campus. Her cheerful, brightly colored notes have offered words of encouragement for members of the University community ever since.
âMy intention was to make even just one person smile,â said Lippa, a with a concentration in forensic psychology and a minor in race and ethnic studies. âNow, I hope to show people that they are not alone, that there is someone who cares about them, and that thereâs hope.â
âSomething small that keeps people goingâ
Many of Lippaâs messages are quotes about topics such as mental health and LGBTQ+ rights. She also creates notes with affirmations â including messages such as âyou are doing great,â âyou are beautiful,â and âyou are loved.â She also leaves notes with important information about resources on campus, including phone numbers.
Lippa likes to use yellow sticky notes, since her messages show up well and the notes are easy to read. She then adds colorful touches â perhaps hearts or small drawings relevant to the message â to make them even more eye catching.
âI want to bring the message together in a theme, of sorts,â said Lippa, who received one of the Universityâs earlier this year. âI want the notes to be pretty and easy to look at but also provide an important message.â
When she first started leaving the notes on campus, she experimented with where to put them. While she does sometimes leave them inside, she often sticks them outside on lamp posts, benches, and outdoor table umbrellas, careful to make sure they wonât interfere with the work of Facilities staff members. ÂéĥıAVs walking through the , Maxcy, and Quads are also likely to find Lippaâs notes. During her time as a ÂéĥıAV, she estimates sheâs left at least a few hundred around campus.
âEven if it comes in the form of a sticky note, I hope itâs something small that keeps people going,â said Lippa, a member of the . âI hope it is something that is helpful to them if theyâre having a rough day. One of my friends found one of the notes and he put it in his wallet. He had it in there for a while. I know it means a lot to students, and my intention is just to give them hope, to make them smile.â
âNo one at the University is aloneâ
As the notes gained traction across campus, Lippa wanted to give students a space to reach out. Endeavoring to take her mission one step further, she created HappyUNewHaven, a that meets weekly to foster student engagement and promote awareness and education on issues such as mental health. The has nearly 1,000 followers, and HappyUNewHavenâs executive board has nearly always been full.
âWe try to be engaged with other RSOs because I believe mental health intersects with a lot of topics,â she said. âLooking forward, I want to be even more engaged. It is meaningful for me that we are an RSO and that we can engage with others. People are very interested. When we have tables set up on campus, people come up and talk to us, and thatâs really nice.â
A devoted ally for the LGBTQ+ community, a wellness peer educator, and a wellness liaison for the Undergraduate Student Government Association, Lippa has recently shifted her focus in psychology to advocacy and understanding mental illness â from a social and community lens, in particular. She applies what she has learned in the classroom and through her research to the RSOâs work, and she hopes to continue to get her fellow ÂéĥıAVs involved.
âMy own experience as a psychology major has helped me make sure HappyUNewHaven discusses important topics backed by research,â she said. âI want everyone to know that no one at the University is alone. They can reach out to us. We will help them to the best of our ability.â
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