By KORTNEY LANG
Tiger Media Network
As part of Fort Hays State University’s Green Week, FHSU took just another step to bring students together, with a whole day devoted to Random Acts of Kindness on Thursday. The Random Acts of Kindness Day is put on by FHSU’s Student Government Association.
These acts of kindness were encouraged not only on campus but also in the community. This day gave students an opportunity to go out of their way to be kind to new people. FHSU is known to foster a supportive environment that emphasizes a strong sense of community and family. Today, students were presented with the opportunity to spread positivity and make a difference in someone’s life with simple acts of kindness.
These “random” acts include simple gestures, such as holding the door open for someone, complimenting a stranger, paying for the person’s coffee behind you in line, or even picking up trash. According to a 2023 Kindness Initiative study “acts of kindness serve as a beacon of light, reminding us that we are not alone and that together, we can overcome any obstacle.”
Although we may find some of these acts to be easy to do, they can ultimately make someone’s day.
For FHSU students Chloe Ecord and Kadence Urban, finding ways to show acts of kindness can be done by finding little things to focus on.
“Find something good about every person you know [and sharing] these thoughts as often as you can,” Ecord said.
For Ecord, finding the good in people makes displaying kindness to others even easier.
“I think we need more of that these days,” she said.
She believes displaying kindness and positivity to others, those attitudes will begin to reflect into our own lives.
Urban says she shows kindness by asking others how their day is, and complimenting people.
“[It is important] to make them feel loved and know that they matter,” she said.
Earlier this week, FHSU also hosted a Suicide Prevention Day to bring awareness to mental health. This Random Acts of Kindness Day also ties in with those efforts of promoting mental health awareness on campus.
Being kind to others isn’t something that is difficult to do, and only takes a little bit of time out of our day, if any. The Mental Health Coalition says college students are one of the most vulnerable populations when it comes to mental health concerns. FHSU students face many different challenges throughout their day-to-day lives, and as such, even the smallest act of kindness can help ease the stresses they face.
SGA’s Green Week has had events all week to champion the cause of being environmentally conscious including a Food Drive, the Campus Clothing Swap, Sustainability Lecture, Random Acts of Kindness Day, Ethical Service Session, and Green Event Service Day. SGA says that these events are aimed at promoting sustainable practices and ethical service on our campus and in the community.
While it is always important to be kind to others, a day that is devoted to kindness shows the great value that FHSU holds in their students and community.