“Before I die I want to … “Thanks to architecture graduate student Nesrine Mansour, students on campus have the opportunity to write their answer to this question on a chalkboard in the center of Rudder Plaza.As Mansour reflects on all the written responses, she said she is able to find her own personal strength.After recently facing her mother’s death, Mansour said she was exposed to the fragility of human life and began reflecting on the meaning of human existence. While searching for a method to cope with her pain, she stumbled across an online video titled “Before I Die.” The video was of a New Orleans’s artist who, in order to cope with her grief of a lost loved one, transformed the side of an abandoned building into a chalkboard similar to the one Mansour has stationed on campus.”When I watched this video it attracted me because that’s exactly what I was looking for – a purpose for my life,” Mansour said.Mansour said the wall has been reproduced more than 100 times around the world in 30 different countries and 10 different languages. She wanted to be the first to bring the idea to College Station.Mansour said with this project she also sought to inspire others to spread similar projects as well as encourage people to meditate on the purpose of their own life.”The thing that struck me the most was watching people actually stop for a few seconds to think about their answer,” Mansour said. “They actually took the time to read what other people wrote and think about what they wanted to write. That’s what I wanted to happen. That’s the purpose behind my wall.”As an architecture student, Mansour was able to receive aid in the construction of her chalkboard from faculty at the Architecture Ranch on the Texas A&M Riverside Campus. Also, because Mansour is insistent on the practice of green architecture, she made sure the chalkboard was constructed solely from recycled materials. Mansour said the chalkboard was salvaged after being thrown away by the University.Although the board, put in place Sunday, is expected to stay up through May 10, Mansour said she hopes to leave it up a few more days during graduation so visiting parents can offer their personal responses to the question. Mansour says this is beneficial because it reveals responses by people who may have a different perspective on goals due to their age.As Mansour believed it would, the chalkboard received positive feedback by the student body.Javis Stephens, sophomore engineering technology major, said he found it difficult to respond to the question. After 15 minutes of thought he was able to provide his answer.”It was a question that I’ve never really answered or thought about,” Stephens said. “I found it was more difficult to answer when thought was really put into it.”Junior education major Jeffier Dawson said the chalkboard allowed her to examine her own personal experiences.”About two years ago I was involved in a car accident where I was supposed to die but didn’t,” Dawson said. “When I saw that question it really made me reflect back to that moment.”Dawson said her response, which was to swim with sharks, gave her a chance to write out her fears to the public.”I feel like I was able to have a voice on the board,” Dawson said. “I wrote that because it’s something that I fear and fear loves to take over your life. This question that we are being asked to answer gives us the chance to fight those fears and uncertainties of life that we carry with us.”