Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

By Madison Toner

Spreading kindness is a great way to not only make other people happy but make you feel good about yourself as well. There has been a sort of fad going around, especially on the internet, where people are doing the “ Random acts of kindness” challenge. The key is throughout a whole month to do atleast one selfless act of kindness once a day for someone else to help brighten their day or just to help them out. The acts could range from as grand as baking cookies for everyone in one of your classes, or something as simple as smiling as some people as you walk by on your way to class. Since we’re not going to be in school for the full month of May, you can do a random act of kindness in school up until the last day of school.

May 1; As the school year is winding down we all know that means it is time for finals, and some of these finals can be really stressful to prepare for. Help some people out who are struggling by forming a study group and it will benefit you all.

May 2; Let someone step ahead of you in the lunch line. We all know that the lunch/snack line take forever to get through, especially when you have last lunch and a lot of their choices could be gone. Let someone cut in front of you just this once so they can get their food a little bit faster.

May 3; We all have that relatively new T-Shirt or pair of shorts that we bought on an impulse buy and have never worn. Now it’s just sitting useless in the back of your closet. Instead of letting it sit there, why not donate it to the local GoodWill? If you’re not going to wear it,  someone else will.

May 4; Take some time to really look around. See if anyone you know seems kind of upset or down. And if they are, ask them what’s wrong. Here’s the twist to this; actually listen to what they say. Some people just need someone to vent to to feel better and they may feel like they don’t have anyone to do that with. Be that person. And if they don’t want to talk about it, atleast you tried to be there.

May 5; Give someone the right away in traffic. Especially if you have noticed they’ve been sitting there a long time. It is something small but it helps someone’s day out just a little bit more.

May 6; Why not buy your lunch for one of your friends? Lunches at school don’t cost very much and it could make your friend feel appreciated

May 7; Clean up after yourself throughout the school day. We have all seen the desks with the nasty wrappers strewn about inside from god knows how long or those mysterious sticky stains on the surfaces. It really is not that hard to walk over to a trash can to throw your trash away. And it May 8th; Leave a note on someone’s windshield to tell them to have a nice day. It is a little boost that has happened before and it really does get people in a better mood.

May 9: Write anonymous notes to people and leave them in different places; on bathroom mirrors, inside desks or inside library books. This has been a common occurrence at South High as it is if you look hard enough, so join in and take a couple minutes to leave a nice note for someone random.

May 10; Offer to help out your teacher with little errands they may have for you. Whether it’s taking back books to the library or handing back papers to people it is nice to be helpful.

May 11; If you go to a restaurant and you notice that your waiter/waitress was exceptionally nice, pay them a big tip. They will really be thankful and keep them in that good mood for the rest of the day. Besides, they deserve it.

May 12; If your parents are having a hectic day, take a little load off them by cooking dinner for them. It saves them time and it does not have to be some exquisite; sandwiches or Hamburger Helper would be just fine.

May 13; When at school and you see someone with a really heavy book bag or a lot of books in their arms, ask if you could help carry them to their next class.

May 14; See someone eating alone? Ask them to join your table. Wow, can it really be that easy? Yes, it is. There are plenty of seats in the commons for everyone to sit but there are always a couple of lurkers who sit outside. If they say no; hey, atleast you tried.

May 15; Hold the door open for people. For some odd reason it has become a random occurrence where people all flood out of the pods out of one door instead of opening the other one. Be the one to hold the door open while people come in or out. It’s not exactly the hardest thing to do in the world.

May 16: It’s the very last day of school! As most people are generally happy about this day, why not just take a couple of seconds and smile at people you pass by? Smiles really are contagious and it would be a nice way to end the year. It may be cheesy, but it’s also nice and polite.