CHARLES HENNEBERGER
Special to The Leader
As the middle of the semester approaches, some people might start to feel stressed out over school, work or any number of things. Luckily for them, Brittany Georgalas, a senior media management and animation double major, decided to inject a spot of cheerfulness and fun into the semester with Balloon Day. Balloons in hand, she took to the campus, handing out balloon animals and hoping to spread positive emotions and raise the spirits of the students.
“I’ve been making balloon animals since the summer,” Georgalas said when asked where she got her idea from. “My mom basically got me into it [when] she handed me an article about this guy that goes all over Long Island … and he does balloons. He even made them for the president for the Fourth of July celebration. I was like ‘I could really get into this’ because it’s kind of creative. So I tried it … and I got really good at it.”
Georgalas made so many balloon animals that, at one point, she didn’t know what to do with them.
“I started giving them to the RAs in my building, and they really liked them. They were like ‘Oh you should give them out’. Then I thought, ‘why not do a free balloon day for the entire campus?’”
This time of year, Georgalas thought, was the perfect time to hand out balloon animals.
“It’s at the point where you kind of need to start pushing to get through [the school day] and [we’re] giving a little pick me up to those kids that are like ‘this is dragging’ or ‘I can’t get through this day or week,” said Georgalas.
Georgalas said she’s used to making balloon animals for small birthday parties. However, she she was excited to bring her balloons to the campus to affect a larger audience.
“The whole creative aspect of things and just making things for other people to enjoy is something that’s personal. I feel very accomplished when I can give you something and you’ll be happy about it, or I make something and it makes someone smile,” said Georgalas. “It feels good that someone is enjoying the work I do. With this event, it’s basically combining my loves for creating and socializing and getting people together.”
Georgalas also hoped that the social media end of socializing would help her event spread through the use of the hashtag “#FREDBalloonDay.” When handing out the balloons, Georgalas included a small card with the hashtag, telling people to tweet or post pictures of their balloon animals on Instagram. She’s hoping that all the social media exposure will help create awareness about her event.
With an idea as unique and fun as hers, Georgalas had no worries at all about Balloon Day falling short of her expectations. With funding from the Residence Hall Association, she premade nearly 700 balloons, storing them in her room inside University Commons. Instead of making big balloon animals, Georgalas made small ones so they would be easier for students to carry with them.
“Some of [the balloons] are kind of big and I feel like it’d be intimidating/ So I made small [balloons] for that reason.” said Georgalas. “And if they say they don’t want a balloon, then have a good day — their loss. There are plenty of other people who would probably want one.”
Georgalas also has hopes the Balloon Day trend will catch on and repeat itself.
“I think more [Balloon Days] would be awesome. I would love to do more of these,” said Georgalas. “We’re here to make people smile, and we want to encourage them to have a great day and pump them up for this semester.”