“Storytellers, musicians, artists, listeners, and viewers, come join us for marshmallows, great warm drinks and even greater stories. Feel free to bring any story, poem, prose, or piece you want to share about home, roots, or "your first..." (yes, we'll leave this up to you) or just come, sit, and listen!”. This was the simple prompt to participate in the Bonfire hosted by the Breaking Barriers Initiative last Thursday, Mar. 12. Inspired by the Shahrzad group from NYU Abu Dhabi and The Moth Project, the BBI Bonfire aimed to serve as a free, safe zone for sharing on a concrete topic of broad dimensions. On this first occasion, the topic was “home, roots or my first...” The event began with the usual Orgsync swipe (which registered around 60 participants), while electronic fire noises were played on the projectors and the only lighting in the room was coming from the bonfire that BBI members, Megan, Ashley, Julie, Anurag and Anny had designed. The ambiance was cozy and aimed to represent the feeling of community that most of us have experienced when attending a bonfire at a summer camp, a school trip or any other similar setting. Surprisingly, despite the limitations of the event - such as the fact that there was no real fire - it ran very smoothly. All the sounds and technology, set up by BBI member Max, were completely on point and helped creating the desired environment. It truly felt like a real bonfire. Before the sharing began, confidentiality and respect were set as ground values to carry through the bonfire, and a little reflective exercise was done, led by the BBI board. Although at first it was a little hard to begin the conversation, the ambiance quickly “heated up” and a constant flow of ideas, thoughts and anecdotes relating to home, roots, and first life experiences invaded the bonfire. Sophomore Roman Chen stated, "I felt very comfortable in sharing my personal anecdotes and even deep emotions during the bonfire event. I think it is very nice that BBI facilitated such a heart-warming environment where people could gather together to share their vulnerabilities about family and roots. Everyone's story is unique in itself, but we also share so much in common, and that's why every story is so relatable." During the bonfire not just stories were shared, but also poems, original songs and covers and funny anecdotes, which all combined created an evening full of emotions and memorable moments. In regards to coordinating and planning for the event, it was challenging. As it was the first time that such an open space within a specific topic was offered to the NYU Shanghai student body, the BBI board was indeed relatively unsure of what to expect from the event. BBI Executive Vice President Ashley Tennant admits: “I was expecting to see a few people stand up and give mostly lighthearted comments, but seeing a huge range of people feel comfortable enough to expose themselves emotionally was so gratifying. It blew away my expectations. I felt so accomplished seeing members of our community open up to each other, even though many of them hadn't even met each other before.” As a matter of fact, the event was originally planned for 45 minutes but it lasted for around two full hours. For us involved with the Breaking Barriers Initiative, we believe that NYU Shanghai is a very accepting and integrating community, and we want to embrace these values that characterize our university through events such as the Bonfire. We believe that it is important for all of us, as students and members of such a vibrant and active community, to also take the time to pause and reflect on our understanding of what it means to be a part of this journey. The Bonfire was intended to provide the NYU Shanghai student body - both portal and study away students - with the opportunity to gather in a warm setting. Students were able to express themselves in dimensions they might not have been able to before, and to people with whom they do not have daily conversations. It was unbelievable seeing such a great diversity of the student population, in terms of demographics, but also in term of classes. We don’t really know what it was that made this such a success. Was it the hot chocolate or the marshmallows? Was it the dim lighting of the twinkle lights? Or was it the pre-midterm stress that seems to be haunting us down these days? Whatever it was, Residential Life should be highly concerned because there was a real fire during this meaningful event last Thursday in the Academic Building. The BBI bonfire helped creating a tight-knit community that, during the event, was fully supportive of every person with their personal anecdote, poem or song. The Breaking Barriers Initiative would like to thank Mr. Monroe France for serving as an inspiration for the event. BBI would also like to thank sophomore Ng Meizhi and the Events Committee for providing some of the props used during the event, as well as the Student Life and IT offices; and all the people who broke their own barriers by attending the event, sharing, listening or eating uncooked marshmallows. Thank you, and let’s all keep breaking barriers. Ah, and yes, of course: see you at the next Bonfire! This article was written by José Antonio Sanchez. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Yujia Ni