By Maria Rehrig
Assistant News Editor

On Sept. 21, the KU Multicultural Center held a workshop open to all students centered around the use of vision boards.

When you are young, vision boards are an excuse to throw glitter on a page and wish for puppies. When you’re a college student, it’s a creative and engaging tool that can be used to figure out what you want in life and to manifest it into reality by putting it on a board—and perhaps also wish for puppies.

According to the official KU website, the Multicultural Center offers events and services to promote the exploration of culture, inclusion and leadership. In more ways than one, the vision board workshop encompassed all three.

Emonie Reviere is a graduate assistant for the Multicultural Center and was one of the forces behind the workshop.

To promote leadership qualities on the KU campus, Reviere had to think of what makes a leader to begin with.

“For me personally, I think leaders are those that think of future outcomes and are always motivated to move forward,” she said.

The students that participated—nine in total, including Reviere—had around two hours to search through magazines, patterned paper, stickers and other art supplies before they ultimately chose what felt right to them and glued it to their vision board.

A vision board is traditionally used as a motivator because the artist is able to clearly see what they want for their future laid out in front of them. Although this vision workshop was used as a tool to manifest a bright future, it was also used as an outlet for self-expression.

Some students chose to decorate their board more than anything else while others were more calculating, with every item they placed representing something specific to themselves.

KU senior Nathan Mwenze placed pictures on his vision board that represented what he wanted his future to look like while also incorporating things that he likes, such as food.

“Most importantly, I hope in a few years I’ll find that special someone,” Mwenze said as he pointed to a picture of a married couple kissing.

Another senior, Tracy Alcée, chose images that she felt were representative of what makes her who she is and who she strives to be. “I included this about hope and empathy because if you don’t have hope, you don’t have anything,” Alcée said.

She chose to incorporate lavender because it brings her peace and calm. She also included an image of a woman working out because, Alcée explained, she wants to do the same.

Many students included similar images such as food, animals and fitness-related activities, but their differences in dreams showed through in the subtleties of their board, such as Mwenze’s hope for marriage or Alcée’s admiration for lavender and its peaceful effect.

Reviere said she hopes events like this will help bring new students together and bring more students to the Multicultural Center to continue their personal growth.

“This was a great opportunity to let students know that we are still very active at the MCC, even with COVID,” Reviere said. “Of course, we follow CDC guidelines, but we still want the students to know we are here for them.”

The Multicultural Center holds weekly “MCC Chats” every Friday from noon to 1:30 p.m. where refreshments are provided and students are welcomed to participate in discussions or actively listen.

More opportunities for open discussion and involvement are posted to their Instagram, @kumcc or under the Multicultural Services tab on the KU website.