When you think of college and being on campus, I’m sure politeness and kindness are the last things you think of. I never really thought about it either, until I started paying better attention to my surroundings.
As I was swaying back and forth on the Flash Bus, holding on for the sake of embarrassment, I saw an act of politeness. The bus made a stop and a few people got off opening some of the seats. I looked around to see if anyone was making his or her way towards the seat across from the door. A guy was making eye contact to the same grey seat I was. He was almost butt in seat when he looked up and saw me, the only girl standing. “Would you like to sit?’ I just smiled and said, “It’s ok.” Being a gentleman though, he said, “No, go ahead.” So I sat, smiled and said, “Thank you.” That was the first act of the day.
Next was on my way to English. I was just doing the regular, walking across Orange Street thinking of all the things I had to do that day when it hit me… Kindness Blog! I immediately opened my eyes and watched every interaction. Now, this wasn’t the first time this happened, but this is the first time I am sharing it with you. When many students walk into a building at the same time there is usually someone who will wait and hold the door open for everyone. Ok, so you may be thinking, “Kayla, what’s the big deal?” But I have to ask how often have you seen a high school kid open the door for classmates they don’t like, classmates they think are strange or weird and classmates they could care less about?
Another observation of mine is how outgoing most people are. If someone recognizes your face from a class they will start talking to you about the class or just about life is going. Recently, as you all know, was Thanksgiving and I heard and took part in many conversations about what people were doing for the holiday, if they were staying here or going back home or even about if they like turkey or not. It is really cool to be a part of this college life and see how so many people just grow on their own and branch out and make new friends.
And just think the next time you feel that you’re cool enough to be in college maybe part of the coolness should be based on how you treat others. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.