For Mother’s Day, various organizations on campus are helping students show their appreciation to mothers by selling cards or by giving students opportunities to make their own.
Even though many students are far away from home, students still find ways to celebrate Mother’s Day to show appreciation and love to the mothers in their lives. One student, Caitlin Scheder ’15, sold Mother’s Day cards at White Plaza, wanting to make appreciating mothers, grandmothers or mother figures as easy as possible.
“Personally, I generally like days that are dedicated to thanking parents/parent figures because I think it is important to remember how lucky I am to have parents [and] parent figures who support me no matter what I do,” said Scheder. “I think that in the hectic nature of Stanford it is easy to forget to be thankful for what you have and Mother’s Day cards is an easy way to remind someone you are thankful for them.”
Scheder is also a counselor for Camp Kesem, a free, week-long, volunteer-run summer camp for children with a parent who has or has had cancer. All of the proceeds from selling Mother’s Day cards went directly to help fund the entire cost of camp for the 140 campers and 70 counselors in the program.
“Being involved in Camp Kesem is important to me because I think it’s important to give kids the opportunity to be kids,” Scheder said. “At Camp, we provide just that–fun, smiles and the simple childish pleasures. A lot of kids who attend Kesem grow up very quickly because of the situations at home, but at Camp Kesem, kids do not have to be grown up, they can be themselves.”
Omega Psi Phi also hosted their fourth annual “Mother’s Day Card Writing Party” at Ujamaa in anticipation of Mother’s Day. The fraternity provided all the arts and crafts supplies, from construction paper to glitter to pipe cleaners, played some music and gave students the opportunity to make a homemade card for their love one.
“We found out that moms, grandmothers and aunties cherish the homemade cards a lot more because its the last thing they expect from a college student, a Mother’s Day card that undoubtedly looks like it could have been made last week or in the 5th grade,” said Wesley Greiner ’16, who helped put on the event.
One student, Krista Cooksey ’15, has attended each of the four annual events and makes three cards: one for her mother, grandmother, and her sister, each personally and lovingly designed.
“I designated the most intricately decorated card for my mother and used the favorite colors of my grandmother and sister along with a different design to make each of them special,” said Cooksey. “Although aesthetics are important, I always focus more on the letter [and] message I write to each of them. Memories that we share, ways in which they support me, ways in which they love me, and ways in which they are helping to shape how I see myself as a mother one day.”
The event also helps foster community, where students can share some of their fondest memories with their mothers and celebrate the impact various women have had on their lives.
“This event is particularly special because while making cards, some students talk about memories of their mothers or women in their family that have been like mothers to them,” said Cooksey. “Because many of us share common memories, through laughter and the power of storytelling, we are able to further build and strengthen our bonds with other members of the black community and celebrate the many black women that have played such important roles in our lives.”
“Although the messages of store-bought cards can be great, there is nothing like someone you love seeing your beautiful handwriting (or not), being able to hear your voice as they read, and picturing you with glue and tape all over your now adult fingers decorating a card for them just like old times. It really is priceless.”
Contact Jeremy Quach at jquach ‘at’ stanford.edu