Every morning I wake up and refresh my Facebook feed, anxious for the new posts from Humans of New York. I have been obsessed with this blog for as long as I can remember. These pictures and quotes can make me laugh, cry, smile, inspire insane outfit-envy, etc. So when I came to Dickinson, I thought of starting a spin-off of HONY. Students and faculty here come from all over the country and world. We have more Bulgarians than West Virginians. (obscure and quite random facts brought you to by your local tour guide) These stories need to be told. This is my chance to pick faculties brain. Talk to the woman who makes delicious and kosher food at the Kove everyday. Get to know students who I may never cross paths with. I’m excited.
And then one day I had a little bit of a setback. I checked my Facebook this night in the library and to my surprise there it was. A “Humans of Dickinson” page, completely blowing up my newsfeed. And boy was it popular. Up to 500 likes in a day’s time. I was crushed. I immediately messaged the page and found it to be started by two of my good friends. They agreed to start a collaboration. Once I started up my blog, we agreed that our two blogs would sync up. Phew. (thanks Carley and Nick) But still, I was feeling a little bit discouraged. Would people take my blog seriously? Would they still read it? Would people assume I was copying their page? I didn’t want to be a piggyback. I had to figure a way to make it different.
Thus, “Humans of Carlisle” was born. Having spent two summers in Carlisle, I feel like I’ve started to learn the ins and outs of the community. There are so many things to love about Carlisle. The farmer’s market. Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb, where you can find well-worn t-shirts and fabulous vintage gems. Endless Belgian frites at Bruges. I mean, we have a falafel food cart, what more does one need? I wanted to add these stories into my blog. I may know more about Carlisle than the average Dickinson student, but I have a feeling I’m just scratching the surface.
I wanted to figure out a way to make my blog a little different than Humans of New York. Granted, Carlisle isn’t a huge metropolis so it definitely won’t be a matter of place comparison. So, I decided to take my life long obssession with printing out pictures for my walls and put it to good use. Humans of Carlisle will be strictly old school. We’re talking disposable cameras, ya’ll. (Sorry the southerner in me refuses to put that word to rest) This will help keep the blog honest. These are real people with real stories and no editing will be done. I can’t wait to start this photo collection. By the end of this class, who knows where this blog will end up. I know that it will change and transform as I go and it’s going to be quite a journey. If you are still with me, I thank you and please check back for the first stories of “Humans of Carlisle.”
