Introduction

Project UMD Stickers in Stories explores the experiences of five University of Maryland students, focusing on how the pressure to succeed affects their mental health and how they cope with academic burnout along the way. As we students enter college, we are often expected to have a clear career path and success already planned out, but the reality is more complicated than we think. The final project of UMD Stickers in Stories shows a short video documentary sharing real students' experiences, along with hand-drawn, lighthearted motivational stickers that are inspired by each interviewee to tie everything together.

Literature Review

UMD Stickers in Stories uses both artistic and scholarly influences, such as artists like Pat Milbery and Jason Graves, who create murals in public spaces to make it feel more lively, yet still bring attention to mental health. And Ann Fischer, a smaller artist, creates more simplistic artwork that still holds a strong message about mental health. These artists inspired my project not just in focusing on mental health, but in how to share it within our community. In terms of scholarly sources, College Mental Health 101 by Christopher Willard talks about student experiences and gives advice from counselors on stress, anxiety, and loneliness. Also, sources like the Healthy Minds Study (2021) found that over 60% of college students reported at least one mental health issue. These sources are important to my project because they show how serious and common these struggles are.

Methods

UMD Stickers in Stories uses a mix of both artistic and traditional methods. It started with face-to-face interviews with students about academic burnout and the pressure to succeed, and later developed into a short video documentary. Then, stickers were created and finalized. This is to show how the documentary presents to the audience the experiences in context, while the stickers convey those experiences into inspirational and heartfelt messages, such as small reminders of support that students can keep with them. These stickers also resemble the interviewees more personally and are grounded in real experiences, so the audience can relate more easily.

Audience & Impact

UMD Stickers in Stories is for all University of Maryland students, especially those struggling with mental health. College can get really overwhelming, and this project is meant to remind students that it’s normal to struggle and okay to ask for help. Completing this project made me realize that students shouldn’t be alone in what they’re going through. This project personally helped shape me as an artist and a scholar, as it showed that art can connect people and how we could grow together from it. 

References

Lipson, Sarah, et al. “Trends in College Student Mental Health and Help-Seeking by Race/Ethnicity: Findings from the National Healthy Minds Study, 2013–2021 - Sciencedirect.” ScienceDirect, 2022, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032722002774. 

Liu, Chen et al. “Assessing the stress-relief impact of an art-based intervention inspired by the broaden-and-build theory in college students.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 15 1324415. 31 Jan. 2024, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1324415

Newsletter, Artdesign. “Art as a Means of Communicating Emotions and Ideas.” Artdesign, 19 Mar. 2025, www.artdesign.ph/artnews/art-as-a-means-of-communicating-emotions-and-ideas/#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20Vincent%20van%20Gogh’s,can%20encapsulate%20deep%20psychological%20states. 

Willard, Christopher, et al. College Mental Health 101 : A Guide for Students, Parents, and Professionals. First edition. Oxford University Press, 2025.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank the participants in my project, including Kathleen, Colin, Daisy, Irene, and Belky. Another special thanks to Hania, my best friend, who has been my emotional support throughout this semester. And lastly, thanks to Harold for guiding me through the process and providing helpful feedback along the way.