ANTELOPE EDITORIAL
harrisonce@lopers.unk.edu

On a nice fall-like day, the week prior to Thanksgiving, I was walking around campus and noticed palm-sized stones within designated walkways. These stones were each inscribed with positive messages and inquiries. My personal favorite read “Did you drink water today?” Something I hadn’t done, but the message made me smile and served as a true reminder. 

As recent storms have led us to agree, winter is upon us, and it is a time of utmost importance to be sharing positive messages across campus. Rocks were a clever way of doing it too, making it hard for our extreme prairie winds to simply blow them away. And with rocks, neither littering or vandalism was involved. However, snow can cover these up. I imagine we have seen the last of these rocks for the semester.

Still, these positive messages are something that shouldn’t be snuffed out by snow when, in fact, snow serves as such a great medium for creativity. Instead of the obscenities we have each seen drawn in snow in years past, I would challenge residents to carry on the positive messages that were scattered in recent weeks by simply bundling up and drawing in the snow instead. This, like building a snowman, is a great way to get out and take a break from studies. Winter inches us towards solitude, when it is truthfully the most important time to go outside and soak in what vitamin D the sun might allow. A continuance of positive messages on UNK’s campus would surely add to this relief, and be doted on as well.

Winters here are harsh, but it doesn’t all have to be. The year isn’t over. There are still laughs and memories to be had.