A crow’s mission to spread whimsy

A crow’s hiding spot on campus. | Crow

If you know anything about our critter friends on Saddleback campus, you’d know about our frequent corvid visitors, the crows. But there’s been a new murder of crows making their way onto campus, small trinkets being brought by a mysterious crow named, you guessed it, Crow.

On Jan. 6, an Instagram account titled @crows_on_campus appeared, and this person, or should I say crow, had one mission. The mission in question, spreading whimsy on campus to bring more joy to the students attending Saddleback.

While the person behind Crow chooses to stay anonymous, we have the delight to hear more about Crow and “their human’s” journey and message of spreading chaos and whimsy across campus.

What inspired you to start this?

Crow has always been delighted by trinkets, and lately Crow’s human’s FYP has been full of people encouraging folks to get into whimsymaxxing. As the semester began Crow’s human found a lot of joy and peace in trying to make every day a little more magical, and hoped Crow could help spread that same feeling to others.

How do you figure out where to hide the crows?

Inspiration comes from many sources! Crow likes to keep an eye out for slightly unconventional nooks and crannies on their human’s walks between classes. And many of Crow’s followers like to suggest ideas—which is super helpful and gets the community involved!

How many crows even are there?

The original plan was to divvy up the distribution of 200 little friends by the number of days Crow’s human would be on campus. However, Crow may or may not be in the process of persuading their human to acquiring more…

Why choose to hide crows specifically?

While tiny ducks and googly-eyes are already someone else’s M.O, Crow realized there was a witty and clever tie-in to the murders (collective noun for a group of crows) students already see everyday at school. The hardest part was deciding how many little friends to adopt and release onto campus.

What do you hope people take from this?

Crow’s mission statement has always been to spread chaos and whimsy one flap at a time. If just one person finds their day gets a little brighter or school and student life gets just a little better, the Crow’s mission is fulfilled!

Crow’s message is one of positivity and inspiration. It makes one wonder if their mission has been a success thus far and I was actually able to get the accounts of two students’ opinions on just that.

“I would say that finding the crows has brought me immense joy,” said Mason Mucio, a student who has been attending Saddleback college for five years now. “When I found my first crow I was literally running in the rain to see if it was there. My friends probably thought I was crazy but I was so happy to see it still sitting there on its little pedestal.”

From this alone, Crow’s mission seems to be a success, and it’s not just Mason Mucio who thinks this.

Sammi Corwin, a tech theater major in her third year of Saddleback states, “The crows definitely bring me joy. I always love to see the posts of them on their little adventures and trying to find them is a fun little side quest to break up the day.”

Now, as a finale to hopefully satisfy Crow’s wish to brighten the day of students, both Mason Macio and Sammi Corwin also shared their own advice on spreading joy.

“I think the best way to spread joy is to just do the little things. Whether it be greeting someone and asking about their day or complementing the cool shirt they are wearing! Just like the itty bitty crows on campus, I think the itty bitty things we say can make a big difference,” said Mason Macio.

Absolutely wonderful advice that I assume even Crow would agree with. Sammi Corwin goes on to share her own advice which is just as uplifting and hopeful.

“A piece of advice I have for students is to search for the small joys in your day to day life. It doesn’t have to be some major thing, it can be as simple as walking across campus and appreciating the sunshine or noticing the various creatures that live on campus,” said Sammi Corwin. “Things are so much better when you welcome whimsy into your life and go on the side quests that call to you.”

It’s safe to say the crows have been a delight to students and that Crow’s mission has been an utter delight for everyone.

Keep a lookout next time you walk across campus! You may just just discover your own crow friend waiting to come home.

As Crow says, “stay whimsical, corvid companions!”

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