The Center for Liberal Arts, located in C209, is a space reserved for liberal arts students to study, do homework, and even just chat. The comfortable chairs placed around the room and the free snacks, as well as the Coordinator, Sarah Regan-Kelly, make the environment quite welcoming. So, it is no surprise that many creative events that bring the community together are held here. On Thursday October 5th from 12 to 1:30 PM, the Kindness Rocks event was held. The Kindness Rocks event invited students and faculty alike to create and design their own kindness rocks for a kindness rock garden. A kindness rock is a decorated rock that can be anything from a positive and uplifting message to a colorful drawing or design and everyone was allowed to make as many as they liked. As it read on the flyer, the garden is meant to spread messages of hope and kindness to everyone at NECC.
In C209, rocks of all shapes and sizes were spread out along a table with a variety of paint markers (and cupcakes). Everyone was given free rein to let their creativity shine. Groups of students gathered around every desk, table, or otherwise flat surface with their rocks, and the room bustled with conversation. Paper plates were used as placemats to keep the room clean, and markers were passed from hand to hand as everyone’s ideas came to life. The event was coordinated by Professor Clare Thompson. “I do Kindness Rocks with my English 101 students at the beginning of every semester,” she said, “And then I decided I wanted to create an entire kindness rock garden.” You may even be able to find her students’ kindness rocks scattered throughout the campus. Lily Dewar, an Early College student from Haverhill Highschool who attended the event, said she “loved the idea as a whole and the positivity of it.” She also really enjoyed the event from an artist’s standpoint, although she found the small canvas to be a bit challenging. Other students expressed similar sentiments of the event as they painted. Regan-Kelly holds many such events in the Center for Liberal Arts. She encourages anyone and everyone to come check them out.
