As Binghamton University began to thaw, campus health advocates took one last opportunity to take advantage of the melting snow.

Real Education About College Health (REACH) interns stood on the Spine outside the Fine Arts Building on Wednesday from noon until 2 p.m. and approached passing students to encourage them to decorate a large “B” carved out in the snow. Participants used spray bottles filled with water and food coloring to leave their mark in an environmentally friendly way.

“Beautiful BU” was part of “Manageable Midterms,” an initiative from the Dean’s Team — a group of student interns that work for the dean’s office — and REACH to relieve the stress of midterm week. Amber Ingalls, health educator and event organizer, said that coloring can relieve stress because it promotes wellness, relaxation and creativity.

She said the goal was to fill the “B” with messages to highlight the range of students at the University.

“We outlined the ‘B’ and the hope is that by the end of the day, the entire inside of the outline will be filled with colors to represent diversity and everybody just getting their mark here at BU,” Ingalls said.

Danjeh Haeri, a sophomore majoring in integrative neuroscience, said the event succeeded in taking her mind off her workload for a while.

“I’m stressed for midterms and it helped me clear my mind,” Haeri said. “It’s a nice way to bring Binghamton students together and have them de-stress at the same time.”

All students could write or draw anything they wanted. While many just sprayed the colored water, others wrote their names, initials and drew hearts and other shapes.

Because the snow was melting quickly, the food coloring did not stick around after 12:30 p.m. Despite the fading outline, REACH interns still received positive feedback and felt they left their mark, according to Ingalls.

Judy Rose, support staff for health education, said that she expected a great turnout based on the REACH interns’ enthusiasm about the cause.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for students to just take a break from walking and just do a creative-type painting, a flower or whatever they want to paint,” Rose said.

Andrew Weintraub, an undeclared sophomore, said that he felt less stressed after participating and was happy about what he painted.

“I painted the snow to turn the snow — something negative about this semester — into something positive and beautiful which brings me joy,” Weintraub said.

Joe Clain, a senior majoring in history, said that he hoped his message would inspire someone who passed by.

“I’ve seen a lot of activities on campus, I’ve been here a while and this just stuck out as something unique to me,” Clain said. “I hope someone reads my message. I wrote, ‘Be awesome.’”