I recently read a posting by Meredith Houston Carr titled living a \u201cround up\u201d kind of life. In her article, she relayed a story about checking out of a store when the cashier asked her if she would like to round up her total in support of a children\u2019s charity. As she went about her day, she wondered: \u201cwhere else in my life can I do round up \u2013 giving just a little more?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since\nreading her piece, I have been thinking about how I can be a little more\nintentional in \u201crounding up\u201d my life. I realize it is the simple stuff:\ngreeting everyone enthusiastically all day long, pausing before meetings to\ncheck how my colleagues are doing, embracing the gift of \u201challway or sidewalk\ntime\u201d to connect with people rather than rush off to the next meeting, sending\njust one more email or note that focuses on gratitude and affirmation, and even\ninviting someone to cut in front of me in line or take that great parking spot\nI had my eye on. Simple, intentional moments, \u201cround up\u201d moments of generosity,\nmake a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These \u201cround up\u201d moments are also what define our community of care. A community in which my wonderful colleagues \u201cround up\u201d every day. As I reminisced about so many heart-warming stories of care, memories flooded my thoughts. Here are just a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before\nclass, Dr. David Fitzhugh asks his students every Monday morning about their\nweekend and listens purposefully. These moments of belonging and connection\nmatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ken\nWindholz, one of the kindest, affirming persons I know, sends emails to\nacknowledge the works of others. I have been a recipient of his kindness, and\nit made my day better and brighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nEmily Weber arrives early for each class to stand at the door to greet every\nstudent by their first name. A student shared with me that two years later, after\nhaving just one course with Dr. Weber, they bumped into one another. Dr. Weber\nremembered her name and asked her how she was doing. Remarkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have asked Vice President for Student Affairs Joey Linn to \u201cadopt\u201d struggling students, checking in with them constantly to ensure they have the support they need to graduate. He does, they succeed, and then I get to shake their hands as they walk across the commencement stage. This is the intentionality that drives our mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nloved how our chemistry faculty wrapped their support around Mallory Fischer \u2013\na non-traditional student about to achieve her dream of walking across the\ncommencement stage to receive her diploma when she ruptured her ACL with additional\ncomplications. Doubting that she would physically be able to make it to\ncommencement, her professors insisted she participate in graduation and \u201crounded\nup\u201d their love and support. Mallory did cross the commencement stage as chemistry\u2019s\nDr. Balthazor, a commencement marshal, pushed Mallory\u2019s wheelchair \u2013 making a\nlongtime dream come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nunforgettable redemption story of Tuan Huyn will always remind me of our purpose\nin action. A naturally gifted artist, Tuan\u2019s early life was marked by deep pain\nand bad choices. Tuan\u2019s future was turned around by the kindness of many,\nbeginning with Chris Hauck, who befriended Tuan through his church\u2019s prison\nministry. Chris connected Tuan with professor Chaiwat Thumsujarit. Chaiwat\nbecame Tuan\u2019s mentor. Tuan, overcoming herculean barriers, not only graduated\nfrom FHSU but also enjoyed a remarkable career with the Leo Burnett advertising\nagency. Later he created a non-profit organization, Chicago Peace, to\nrevitalize neighborhoods by building bridges between stakeholders through\npartnerships, education, the arts, compassion, and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n\u201cround-up\u201d intersection between Curtis Pitts and the Nichol family is another example\nof Tiger Nation\u2019s powerful relationships. Curtis came to FHSU in 1980 to play football. In 1982 he left\nFHSU for an internship and did not return. Life continued to happen \u2013 including\nthe loss of his parents. Prior to their deaths, he had promised he would complete his college\neducation. Long story short, Curtis was able to complete all of his classes\nexcept for one in which he\ncontinued to struggle. So, last summer, FHSU staff connected him with a KAMS\nstudent living in the same area. That student\u2019s entire family \u201crounded up\u201d\ntheir love and support and, together, tutored Curtis. Curtis is now a proud\nalumnus of FHSU. I smile every time I think of Curtis saying: \u201cThe Nichols\nembraced me like family and always made sure I had snacks and a cold drink in a\nglass engraved with Fort Hays State University’s logo on it. I couldn\u2019t have\ncompleted this class for graduation without their help!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Small acts of kindness, such as donating professional clothing to Tailored for Tigers, a closet brimming with complimentary professional attire for interviews, business presentations, career fairs, and other professional activities, have been a game-changer for our students. We were even able to help a student who lost nearly everything when the family home caught fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nam so grateful for our community\u2019s focus on caring for one another\nauthentically and generously. I appreciate this simple reminder that in my\nlife, with just a bit more focus, I can continue to round up \u2013 giving just a\nlittle more to those around me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As noted author and professor Leo Buscaglia shared, \u201ctoo often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word… all of which have the potential to turn a life around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently read a posting by Meredith Houston Carr titled living a \u201cround up\u201d kind of life. In her article, she relayed a story about… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67225,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67224\/revisions\/67225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}