As Westmont students returned to campus in August for another year of school, they likely expected the usual back-to-school things: time at the Dining Commons, chapel three times a week and a new class schedule. What a lot of students might not have been expecting, however, was miracles.
Yet as the school year began, students received the message to “Expect Miracles” from stickers placed around the Westmont campus. On dorm room doors, the sides of buildings, even on an arm of the kiosk to exit campus, the message to “Expect Miracles” stuck to Westmont infrastructure.
The stickers, which showed white letters spelling out “Expect Miracles” against a plain black background, were placed in different locations throughout Westmont, even in the Dining Commons and in Winter Hall.
On the night of September 8, a group of (anonymous) students spent about two hours placing stickers on every dorm room on campus, as well as every apartment door in the Ocean View Apartment complex.
The stickers are a product of a brand called “Expect Miracles,” which was first developed by second-year Westmont student, Maximus Miles. His approach to creating the brand is rooted in his Christian faith. The stickers are a visual reminder of mindset, which Miles describes as “a shift in perspective from fear to love.” The idea came to him in the last year, as he sought to grow in his own spiritual journey with God. Through prayer, meditation and talking to mentors, Miles decided that growing in faith required a choice to adopt a mindset of faith in everyday life. For him, this mindset is in the form of expecting miracles. With the help of some friends, he sought to create a brand that would communicate this to their fellow Westmont students.
Following September 8, a competition was conducted about who could place a sticker “in the funniest, respectful spot” (Miles). The winner would receive a hoodie sweatshirt from the Expect Miracles brand. While the competition was originally meant to spread stickers throughout the Santa Barbara area, it ended up leading Westmont students to place stickers in odd places around the campus. The influx of stickers led to a conversation between Miles and Westmont housing.
“They were extremely helpful and actually like, really friendly about it,” shares Miles about his call with the housing office. They voiced concern that the stickers could cause damages to campus buildings, such as removing paint or leaving marks, while also encouraging the brand and the message. Miles said they came to an understanding to “not have [the stickers] on glass, on surfaces that might leave a mark, on buildings because [the stickers] might like, leave a mark or something.” They also agreed to only place stickers on the dorm room doors of students that wanted them.
For Miles and his friends, this is a part of cooperating with Westmont to get their idea into the world. “In Christ, we have everything we need. So we don’t need a miracle to happen, but we expect and allow them to happen,” and that’s what the message is all about (Miles). “Expectation is faith. If we expect miracles, [a miracle is] already done,” (Miles).
In the future, the students behind the Expect Miracles brand plan to produce more merchandise, including t-shirts and pins. You can follow the journey on instagram @expectmiracles.io.
