First Day

First Day..

Remember when the first day of school consisted of laying out your clothes the night before. taking a picture that morning with your backpack and lunchbox, and laying awake all night thinking about the excitement of the next day?

It’s weird how so much can change over the course of someone’s life.  Even in a life as short as mine.  School gradually became less of a social, interactive, learning environment and became more of a test-based, task-focused ‘day job’.

The schools are designed to output ‘mass-produced mediocrity’.  Your purpose is reduced to a number-  a fraction.  You could be a 95, a 60, or an 83.  You are 1 person out of 2000 (or 1000, or 500.  Doesn’t really matter) others who are there for the same, exact reason.  Pretty crazy, huh?

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

This year I’m trying to approach it with a different perspective.  What if you could do something each day to make one person’s life better?  If you think about the number of interactions you make with other people each day, school suddenly becomes less of a hindrance, and more of an opportunity to impact someone’s existence for the better.

If you go out of your way to introduce yourself to a shy, quiet person, you restore their confidence in their social presence.  One interaction could change the course of a person’s day.  Or their week.  Or their YEAR.

What if every interaction you have with other people is a positive one?  One that simply encourages them.  Just imagine the difference you would see in their lives.

Encouragement literally means “to give courage to.”

What would a school full of courageous, confident people look like?

I’m anxious to find out.