Halle Addison and Cali Curlee, two freshmen at Eastern Michigan University, thought they were compiling research on nonverbal behavior for their nonverbal communications class when their findings turned into #OperationYouCanDoIt and went viral.
Addison and Curlee, chemistry majors, observed the nonverbal signs of depression by looking at physical appearance, gestures and movement, and facial and eye movements of students around EMU’s campus. They wanted their project to focus on positivity, leading to the name #OperationYouCanDoIt.
To begin their research, the two handed out balloons with inspirational quotes on them to students who they thought displayed possible nonverbal signs of depression, such as frowning, avoiding eye contact and lack of facial expression.
“After approaching students and asking them to verbally read the quote, they started to smile and their depressive, nonverbal behaviors were diminished,” Curlee said in a press release. “We realized that every single student smiled because of the quote we selected for them.”
Taking things a step further, Addison and Curlee asked friends to send them quotes that inspired them. The result was smiling faces holding up signs with inspirational words and phrases on them posted to Instagram, which then went viral.
The two received pictures of smiling faces and quotes not just from EMU students, but also from college students all over the country, including students from Alabama, California, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and even Canada.
“Even though the quotes weren't directed specifically for us - it was like a little boost of encouragement every time we got a picture from someone,” Curlee stated. “In that way, I was directly affected by this experiment. It turned out so much better than expected. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity to reach out to so many people.”
A few quotes sent to Addison and Curlee were: “In the end, we only regret the chances we did not take,” “Not all those who wander are lost” and “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” The students created a video collection of all the posts sent to them using that hashtag to show their professor and fellow classmates.
In the press release, the two said they hoped those who participated in #OperationYouCanDoIt benefiting just as much from the inspirational thinking as they did.
“I'm extremely happy with the way this project turned out,” Addison was quoted. “It's crazy to think that we were just sitting in our room one night and this idea just came to us. We wanted to do something out of the box and something that hadn't been done before, but we also wanted to leave a lasting impression on people. I think we accomplished that.”
