By Sophia Arnao
Staff Writer
A small slip of paper may not seem like much, but one Costa student challenges that by bringing a daily source of optimism to his peers by using nothing more than a tiny notecard.
The student, who wishes to keep his identity unknown, has been printing his “Colorful Cards”, as they are known, since February of last year. He found that many people seemed depressed, both in school and in the media, and he sought to change that by sharing a positive message, quote, and fun fact with his peers every day.
“The purpose for it is to bring happiness into people’s days,” he said. “There’s a lot of depression and I just wanted to do something to change that.”
The student was inspired by his friend, sophomore Jared Haim, with whom he shared a fun fact every day in science class. He recalls that Haim suggested the idea for him to print the facts so they could be kept and remembered.
“I showed up with thirty cards printed out and I started handing them out around my science class,” the student said. “[The idea] just kind of went from there.”
On one side of each card, there is an inspirational quote. On the other side, the mantra “Guess what? Today is gonna be a great day!” is written above a quirky, sexual fun fact. The student chooses these facts in particular because he believes people enjoy them the most.
“The truth is that everybody has an immature side to them and that is the side that usually makes them happy,” the student said.
The student created his first fun fact card on February 11, 2014. Following his tradition from last year, he began printing one new card each school day and plans to continue until the end of the year.
“I’ve kept the tradition going from last year so that it’s still something that people are actually looking forward to and it’s not just something that people take for granted every day,” he said.
Many of the students’ other friends and classmates, including Haim, enjoy the cards and believe they achieve the purpose of making people smile. According to Haim, they give students the chance to be excited about coming to school and learning a new fun fact.
“I like the cards because they give me a good laugh in the morning and I think the purpose of them is to make other people laugh,” Haim said. “The students get something to look forward to at school.”
The students’ biology teacher last year, Roberto Calderon, supported his idea by allowing him to distribute them in his class. According to Calderon, the cards are amusing; however, he feels the fun facts are a little extreme and perhaps too graphic.
“His intentions are noble,” Calderon said. “I think the inspirational quotes are nice and thoughtful [but] I feel like the fact of the day should be more G-rated.”
Despite of what people make of him and his cards, the mystery student hopes to continue creating and distributing them each year until he graduates. He plans to continue helping his peers by bringing a daily dose of happiness into their lives.
“I’d definitely love to continue this trend,” he said. “If I could just do a simple thing like this to make somebody’s day, then it’s worth it.”
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