Posters displaying the personal stories of 10 students stretched across the walls of Goldwin Smith Hall’s first floor yesterday afternoon.

Pedro “PJ” Avila Jr. ’12 stood next to his narrative, a short story explaining how his name illustrated his multi-ethnic background. Avila’s father wanted to give his son his own name, Pedro, in the traditional Mexican manner, while his mother refused. The result was a compromise —Pedro and Jr. combining to the nickname PJ — that has shaped his personal identity.

Writing on the wall: Pedro Avila ’12 discusses his writing with Renee Alexander, director of minority programming for Cornell’s Alumni Affairs Division yesterday.

Pedro’s story was part of “Writing on the Wall: A Living Blog,” a display that featured blog-like entries of topics ranging from the life of a black male at Cornell to a trip to Tanzania. Students and faculty read the narratives and then engaged with the writers about their stories.

“It allows you to say what you mean in an original fashion and make points that spark reactions,” said Ilya Brotzky ’10, who developed the idea for the exhibition. “And maybe it leads to a conversation that would have never otherwise happened.”

In fact, many students and faculty who did not intend to view the exhibit stopped on their way to or from class.

“I think it’s so wonderful to bring out peoples’ stories in a public exhibit,” said Henry Kaweesia ’11, who paused on his way to class.

A group of students who organized the event initially selected and edited entries under the supervision of Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Myra Sabir PhD ’04. The exhibition served as publicity for Sabir’s “Life Writing Project,” a ten-week workshop series beginning this November.

Sabir began “life writing” — the exploration of memories and personal identity through writing — at the age of 29 as a narrative psychologist before becoming a dean at Cornell. She has since modified the idea to create a workshop series to help students develop their own “life writings.”

“The Life Writing Project is lifelong dream of mine, and I’ve been working on it for the last 20 years,” Sabir said. “It’s really my baby.”

Sabir offered a life writing workshop as a pre-orientation program last summer, and since then the Office of Minority Educational Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences have decided to sponsor a similar program this fall for underrepresented students.

Each Saturday, participants will meet for two hours and free-write, beginning with their earliest memories and culminating with more recent ones. The narratives aim to help students reflect on unresolved issues and how they have shaped their identity. The students continue writing through the week until the next workshop, at which Sabir gives a new prompt. The project concludes with a reflection on existence and the meaning of life.

The event yesterday garnered the interest of dozens of students who signed up to receive further information about the Life Writing Project. In the coming years, Sabir hopes to expand the series to non-minorities.

“There’s a lot of research that indicates students who do life writing in one way or another earn better grades, have fewer health issues, attend classes more often and have higher GPAs,” Sabir said.

The exhibitors at the Writing at the Wall event agreed that a variety of students and faculty could benefit from the exercise.

“A lot of what I’ve seen here is about everyday struggles,” Avila said. “This would be a really great opportunity for anyone to express themselves and their thoughts.”

Some have asked Dean Sabir to create a life writing freshmen writing seminar. Sabir said she believes, however, that this would move the focus away from creativity and towards the technical aspects of writing, undermining the project’s mission.

“I don’t care about misspellings and grammar,” Sabir said. “The point is to get on the page what you feel inside.”