Free Hugs!

What is imperative to understand before reading this post is that it involves a crazy journalism assignment my class was given over the weekend. Basically, we had to do something we had never done before. Sounds pretty easy huh? Well let me tell you, it is a lot more difficult than you would think!

Firstly, I am a broke student with no vehicle of any sort. Thus exciting trips to the beach or to see giant pineapples were out of the question. Secondly, while it may not seem like it, I have done a lot of things! Trying to find something to do that was not deathly boring or illegal proved to be incredibly challenging.

Eventually, however, after chatting to a group of friends, we came up with the idea of walking around campus with a sign saying "Free Hugs" and then dishing out hugs to whoever approached us. Being the last week of term, everyone is completely stressed out and on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Thus, offering them a good old solid hug was our way of spreading a little joy, you know, in good Halloween spirit.

I was quite chuffed with our idea the whole week (we decided to do it on Friday), but when I woke up this morning I started to feel more than slightly apprehensive. I have never really cared what people think about me, but I began to worry about people's reactions; worst would be if no one even took us up on our offer!

However, the whole experience really was fun and worthwhile. We encountered a variety of reactions, however most of them were positive. Most people walked by and gave us a smile or laugh but a good number actually wanted hugs. Wherever we went, people greeted us with happiness. There were obviously a couple of people who snickered at us or simply ignored us, but it was great to see that the majority gave us positive energy.

'Free Hugs' was an interesting exercise and one that I really enjoyed. It provided me, and hopefully many others, with a couple happy hours in an otherwise stressful and overburdened life.