Suburban 'Girl with white board' inspires in Chicago
Lauren Lawson's words are inspiring thousands across the world.
She says she knows this. She's seen the reactions of people from every continent to the short, motivational phrases she's displayed while spending weekend afternoons on Chicago street corners as “the girl with the white board.”
“Do something meaningful.” “Remember your worth.” “Inspiration is contagious.” “Don't limit yourself.” “Never settle. Never quit.” “Your dreams are beautiful.” “You are not alone.” “Appreciate every moment.” “Fear nothing.”
She's spread those messages in black marker on a handheld white board during nine December afternoons and says she's far from finished.
The girl with the white board: Michigan Avenue Project will continue from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and doesn't break for the holidays. Lawson said she will be standing with a handwritten message during the afternoon on Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
“I feel like I can inspire people with words,” she said. “Just a few words is enough for (people) to take with them.”
The project began as a way Lawson, a 22-year-old double major in health sciences and Spanish at Aurora University, could begin helping people — right now.
While she's still in school. While she's searching for the right career to pursue. While she's without a car and the resources to throw loads of cash at worthy causes.
“My mind just kept coming back to ‘I want to help people.' That's as simple as it is,” said Lawson, who grew up in Oswego. “The point is for me to inspire people to go for their dreams. There shouldn't be anything holding you back.”
For seven years in high school and college, Lawson's dream was to become a doctor and a bilingual one at that. She recalls an experience shadowing doctors at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora and translating during the birth of a Hispanic woman's baby via C-section. She even got to be the first to tell the mother her baby's weight, Lawson said.
But Lawson's MCAT scores “weren't exactly what I wanted,” so she thought long and hard, asking herself what she most desires out of a career. She's undecided, but she said her motivation and understanding of her skills leave her open to many options, a state that's both “intimidating and liberating.”
Each day she becomes “the girl with the white board” begins with Lawson getting a ride to a Metra station and commuting to the city. She knew passers-by would see the white board when she reached her Michigan Avenue destination, but didn't realize the messages would be just as powerful to fellow train passengers.
Lawson said the response to her words — in person and online via Facebook, Twitter and her website, thegirlwiththewhiteboard.com — has been entirely positive except for one Facebook commenter who criticized her handwriting in a post Lawson said someone later deleted.
“Optimism is met with optimism. I've not had one ounce of negativity,” she said.
But she has encountered a bit of cynicism and a bunch questions. She's been asked what's the catch. (There is none.) Is she protesting something? (No.) Raising money for something? (No, but she has turned down donations, including an offer of change a homeless man collected.) And why is she alone?
“I want to show the power of one,” she said. “One person with one passion can make all the difference.”
On Saturday, Feb. 7, she'll change it up a bit, inviting anyone who has something to say to join with a white board of their own.
Then it's back to working as a resident assistant at Aurora University and looking for other opportunities to continue spreading her messages of inspiration and empowerment.
“I would love to expand this to other cities,” she said about the white board project. “We need the dreamers to come forward. We need that right now.”