Random Act of Kindness Day

Grace Week
Random Act Of Kindness Day

Description

Last Friday my roommates and I participated in Brock University’s random act of kindness day, we decided to join the activities that were taking place on Brock’s campus. We went at around 2 o’clock to the people organizing the event; the student who had seemed to be the head of the event was thrilled to see us. We were asked to make cards for the bus drivers who come outside the tower. My roommate Maddie and I teamed up and got very creative. We made a butterfly and Sun card out of cut out hands. We thanked them for the work they do, but these cards took a lot longer than I expected. There was 6 of us girls working on the crafts, and I was surprised to see that no one in the two hours that we were there had come to participate in the Random Act of Kindness day. We were inspired by the idea of giving out cards to complete strangers to brighten their day, and continued making smaller cards with inspirational quotes and sayings on them. After everyone had made their cards, we caught the 4 o clock bus schedules and handed them out to various bus drivers. Then three of us decided to pass out the smaller cards to people studying hard in the library, along with chocolates and juice boxes. We quickly but quietly shuffled through the library passing out our homemade cards and trying to make it completely anonymous. We had all hoped that this act had brightened their day, and on every card we wrote pay it forward in hopes that they might do the same.

Examination

The book “Notes from young activists” and activism in general relates to this week’s topic. If more young people go out there and support a cause that they believe in, I believe that things can change. Today’s society is becoming all about “me” and everyone only cares about themselves. The “Notes from young activists” narrates people’s stories and how they have made a difference and what they have done, whether it is overseas or here at home. This shows that we can make a change, even here in our own community. Helping other people seems like such an easy concept, but there are so few people who actually partake in doing so. The Random Act of Kindness day brings to light the idea of doing something for others solely just as an act, with no recognition involved.

Articulation of Learning

I have learned that taking even a few hours out of your day, and performing small gestures can make you and others feel better about themselves. I know that people are extremely busy in their own lives but this activity only took about 2 hours and I hope that it made people pass along the message.

I learned this when people smiled after giving them treats, and simply saying have a nice day. The people in the library were taken back and the looks on their faces showed that these small acts didn’t occur very often.

This learning matters because unfortunately for most people like myself, we need a day to remember to be nice to others, but it should happen naturally and every day. We shouldn’t need a reminder to be nice to one another.

In light of this learning I now try and go out of my way more often for the benefit of others. I try my best to do simple tasks such as smile, hold open a door or say have a nice day to strangers.                      

Reference

Nutt, Samantha , Daniel Cohen , Severn Cullis-Suzuki , Kris Frederickson , Ahmed Kayssi , and Cynthia Mackenzie . Notes from Canada's young activits . Vancouver ; Berkley : D&M, 2007. Print.