"When I sing out loud in my car I always stop to check the backseat to make sure no one is there ... as if someone hearing me sing would be worse than a stranger in the backseat," said an anonymous postsecret.blogspot.com contributor in a postcard on the Web site last Sunday.

This secret is just one of many that can be seen on PostSecret's Web site. PostSecret is an art project started by Frank Warren that encourages people to send in postcards revealing their secrets, which include topics ranging from eating disorders and depression to funny quirks individuals reveal about themselves. University of Dayton students and members of REACH Out with Active Minds, a mental health awareness group, were inspired by PostSecret and collaborated to create UD's own version of it, titled DaytonSecret.

REACH members Maria Adducci, Ali Suranovic, Kelsey Fagan and Laura Getz collaborated to make this idea come to life on campus.

"DaytonSecret is an ongoing community art project where students, faculty and staff are asked to send in a postcard revealing a secret anonymously," Adducci said. "The secrets can include things such as dreams and aspirations or fears and regrets. We are asking UD to be creative and honest."

The postcards will be handed out to resident assistants and neighborhood fellows who will then distribute them to others.

"We hope that we can get at least one secret or more from as many students, faculty and staff as possible," Adducci said.

The creators of DaytonSecret hope this project will take away the stigma associated with mental illness and open up the lines of communication for people to share their own struggles.

"We will be more aware of how our community is feeling and what the members of the UD community are going through," Suranovic said. "This means we can directly target the issue of suicide, depression, bipolar, eating disorders, self-harm and other issues related to mental health because we will know our students, faculty and staff are struggling with them."



Along with erasing the stigma, Fagan said she envisions this project bringing the UD community together.



"The coolest part about DaytonSecret is being able to relate to a stranger's secrets," she said. "We hope this unites students, and people can find it fun and serious all at the same time."



The creators of DaytonSecret hope that the project will help the community become more understanding of fears and emotions that many students keep hidden.



"The original project by Frank Warren is done on a much broader scale with submissions from all over the world," Suranovic said. "Making our project exclusively UD is more personal. The messages hit home because each secret could be from a roommate, classmate, peer, teacher or friend."



The postcards sent in will be displayed 1 to 10 p.m. March 27 at ArtStreet during M-Fest, an all-day concert and art festival organized by REACH which promotes mental health awareness. After M-Fest, postcards will be on display in ArtStreet Caf