I've always loved the idea of doing good things, and I try really hard in my daily life to actually do good things.
In high school I was a part of an organization called RAK, which stands for Random Acts of Kindness and Rachel's Ambassador Klub. We did various service activities and volunteer projects. Being involved in RAK really triggered my interest in service and volunteering and just plain old kindness. It became one of my biggest passions and my number one goal to be kind.
I started thinking about ways I could incorporate this newfound passion into my future. I knew there would always be opportunities to be kind and volunteer my time, but I wanted to make a career out of it. I wanted to be kind full-time and promote the idea of being kind to everyone I could.
At this point I had decided that I wanted to become a journalist, but I had doubts about it. I didn't want to write about sad, horrific, upsetting events like we so often see in the media. It didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to incorporate my passion for kindness into my future career in journalism.
My ultimate goal was to write a column for a newspaper (The New York Times was my #1 pick, obviously) about kindness. I wanted to write about non-profit organizations, volunteer opportunities, small acts, anything that promotes kindness, anything good.
To be honest, this is still a goal of mine. It would be so cool to have such a platform where I could feature all of the good happening in the world. I want to keep hope alive in a world where such terrible things happen far too often.
When I got to Iowa and attended a fair at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, I found out about the Fundraising and Philanthropy Communication Certificate.
I immediately knew that I wanted to add the certificate. I had never considered a job in a non-profit or volunteer organization, but it seemed like a great idea. I could do communications, marketing, event planning, fundraising for an organization.
Of course this now creates a problem. There are now way too many things that I would like to do after college! I want to work at publication or a book publishing house or a non-profit, and the list just goes on! I guess it's better to have too many ideas than none at all.
No matter what I end up doing, I really hope to do something that helps other people and maybe even (*crosses fingers*) changes the world. My belief is that even the smallest act of kindness can change the world, so get out there and do something nice for someone else!
What's your favorite way to spread kindness around? What's something kind that someone's done for you before? I would love to hear about your ~kind~ experiences!
Lots of love,
Sarah
Minor Myers, Jr., Annual Illinois Wesleyan University Commencement