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Kindness isn’t one single thing. Sure, Meriam Webster defines kindness as the “act of being gentle or considerate,” but I believe kindness is so much more than that. While kindness itself may be undefinable, it is easily recognizable. Kindness takes many forms, sizes, and colors. It isn’t bound by time or place, by gender or educational attainment, by socioeconomic status or political affiliation, but instead kindness is a deeply rooted part of humanity. To me, kindness is an act of genuine human connection and occurs only when both the giver and the receiver can look past superficial differences and recognize their underlying similarity as human. In an evermore divisive world, people too often let external differences, whether it be race, gender, or religion, deter them from being kind to one another. Ironically, it is in an increasingly divided world where kindness is needed the most.
As a collegiate student athlete, I’m fully aware of the many people who have helped me get to where I am today. Reflecting on my childhood, it is easy to pinpoint those moments which shaped me into who I am; moments where a stranger unknowingly said the right thing at the right time or offered a helping hand in a time of need. With this awareness, I have a strong sense of obligation and honor to be able to pay it forward to the next generation through acts of kindness. For more than two years, I’ve worked to empower the next generation through kindness by volunteering at the Booker T. Washington Center. An after-school program for inner city youth, the Booker T. Center is a safe place for elementary aged students to do their homework, have a guaranteed meal, and to just be kids. Located in the poverty-stricken city of Erie, Pennsylvania, the Center serves an increasingly disadvantaged community. The U.S. Census Bureau records indicated that in 2016 the poverty rate in Erie, PA was 27.3%. Furthermore, the 2016 data showed that 40.6% of children in the Erie lived below the poverty line; a rate which was more than 2 times the national average. For many students, the Booker T. Center is a safe haven. The Center is the only place where students are momentarily unchained from a burden of worry, fear, and insecurity, and allowed to just be kids.
After hearing about the Booker T. Washington Center during my first year of University, I decided to volunteer to become more involved and give back to the community. I was certainly nervous as I drove through a dilapidated downtown Erie, unsure of what to expect from the students, staff, or Center. Next to a seemingly vacant building, a humble wood sign on the left-hand corner read Booker T. Washington Center. I pulled into the crumbling parking lot, locked my car twice, and headed in with supreme caution. Walking through several sets of double doors, I emerged into a poorly lit, raucously loud, sweaty smelling gymnasium full of energetic kids. I looked around and stood alone…for a second…until a little boy grabbed onto my leg and asked, “Can I have a piggy back ride?” Slightly taken aback, I hesitantly replied, “Uh sure…what’s your name?” In his endearing tone and with an ear to ear smile he said, “DaVeon…what’s yours?” I smiled back, said my name, and told him to jump onto my back. For the next hour, I gave DaVeon a piggy back ride. We did everything together from playing tag, to football, and connect four. When it was finally time for me to go, DaVeon started to cry and insisted that I couldn’t leave. I promised him that I would come back the following week. That one more week turned into two years of volunteering at Booker T. and hundreds of more piggy back rides. Over the last two years I have had the privilege to not only watch DaVeon grow up (who sadly doesn’t ask for piggy back rides or to hold my hand as often) but also to interact with so many other inspiring kids.
After becoming a regular volunteer at the Center, this academic year I accepted a formal position as a mentor. Being a mentor allows me to work with students more directly on life skills. Since many of the students come from single parent households with multiple other siblings, giving the students my attention is often the single biggest need I can fulfill for them. Whether it be asking them how their day at school was, talking about what they are doing over the weekend, or what they want to be when they grow up, mentoring helps give students an outlet to express themselves. I work to encourage and empower students to become the best versions of themselves and fulfill their potential. When Deja told me about a bully calling her ugly during the school day, I had the opportunity to help instill in her a strong sense of self-worth and identity. When HeHe showed me an exam he failed, we got to discuss how to overcome challenges and prepare better next time. The scenarios and discussions I have with the students are surely endless, but I strongly believe it is in these moments that their lives are shaped. Although these weekly investments to play, listen, hug, laugh, share, and love the kids at the Center have become my passion, I hope my commitment will help the students achieve their dreams, fulfill their potential, and change the world.
Becoming an active mentor, inspired me to do something more to impact all the students. At the beginning of this spring semester, I came up with the idea to hold the first annual “Little Laker Leader’s” camp. With my University mascot being a Laker, I enlisted the help of my teammates to put on a hockey-themed leadership camp at the Center. My goal for the day was to help teach the students about leadership and instill in them the belief that they could turn their dreams into reality. After extensive planning and coordination, my team and I successfully ran a two-hour team building exercise for the students. I broke the students up into four teams and had various races and games in which the teams competed against each other. From the human knot to relay races, the students learned about teamwork and leadership skills. In addition, the students worked with the volunteers to fill out “I have a dream…” worksheets. The worksheets had the students state what they wanted to be when they grew up and what was one thing they had to do to get there. Although an NFL player was the most common dream, it encouraged me to hear that students also wanted to be doctors, teachers, and even garbage men. At the end of the day, each student received not only a certificate of participation, but a day full of memories and a future full of ambition.
When I think about kindness and specifically my service at the Center I can’t help but smile. Sure, I serve the students at the Center. I help them with their homework, talk about some of what they go through, and play them in a tight game of 1 on 1 basketball. But what I give to them, isn’t half as much as what they give to me. Since the moment DaVeon grabbed onto my leg, I’ve felt at home at Booker T. The love and kindness which fill the Center are contagious and stand as a beacon of hope in a city of despair. Even though any number of demographic characteristics (age, race, gender) could have classified me as an outsider at the Center, the kids have a colorblind kind of love and in that is kindness. I help them learn how to add and subtract, while they remind me that no matter how hard the math fact is (or any challenge in life) to never give up…that is kindness. I help them learn how to read, while they help one another sound out syllables and remind me that we rise by lifting others…that is kindness. The lessons I have learned from the students are endless but together they have instilled in me an understanding of the power of kindness. To me kindness is a choice we make, an unknowing gift we give, and a capacity we all possess. An act of kindness is like a single drop of water falling in the ocean; for when the drop hits the water, it ripples, and ripples, and ripples forevermore. There is no telling the effect a reciprocated act of kindness will have on the world. But I believe that acting kindly is the only hope we have for changing the world.
