Press
As a resident assistant at Emerson College, I led an initiative to fold 1,000 origami cranes for cancer patients while connecting dorm residents. Senbazuru, which translates to “1,000 cranes” in Japanese, is a longstanding tradition of folding one thousand origami paper cranes. In Japanese culture, the crane symbolizes longevity, happiness, and good fortune. Folding a thousand cranes is often undertaken as a prayer for someone who is ill to recover, or as a wish for personal happiness and good luck. The most well-known story associated with Senbazuru is that of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who developed leukemia as a result of radiation exposure from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. I taught residents how to fold the cranes and left a video tutorial next to the cardboard box where the cranes were being held. Within a month, we reached our goal. I contacted Dana-Farber Institute, who agreed to take 600 of the cranes and passed them out directly to cancer patients.