EVERYTHING
KIND
THE PREMISE
In pursuit of a world that was kinder, I strove to create a world where we proactively cared for each other... starting with some cheerleading pom-poms.
*There is sound in the video above, for a more complete experience.
THE STORY
The Spontaneous Cheerleader
It was the spring of my freshman year of college at Princeton, a school which could be brutally difficult at times. I struggled, and I knew others struggled too. I wished that it was a friendlier place where instead of people just offering to be available in times of struggle, that people would proactively take the first step and do things for others. So, I decided to be the change.
I sent out this flyer to the whole school, took my conveniently available cheerleading pom-poms, and cheered 100+ people over the week, in over 30 performances.
I got the attention of the University Press Club's Dean's Date Blog, which you can read here. The video above was taken by them after they heard of my mission.
The Start of AOK
A year later, the Acts of Kindness Club, sponsored by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, was founded, with a mission to create an environment where we're not just nice (i.e., passive friendliness) to being kind (i.e., proactive uplifting) for the sake of it.
#KeepItKind and COVID-19 Era
AOK hosted the biweekly #KeepItKind Challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, where we shared opportunities to help senior citizens, show appreciation for professors, and donate to blood drives.
We also became the new owners of the @positivelyprinceton Instagram account, an anonymous compliments page that is still running, five years after the club's founding.
Handing Off the Reins
In my senior year, other initiatives we did included free donut giveaways and cheering during midterms season, the Holiday Gift Exchange (with over 100 recipients over two years), and the "Kindness Festival," an initiative we ran after World Kindness Day.
Years after I've left, it's still going strong, and the website can be found here. In fact, the club won the Santos Dumont Prize for Innovation in 2023 for their work honoring campus facility and dining staff.
If there was anything during my college years that made me grow as a person, it was the AOK. I learned to pursue dreams and build the kinder world that we ought to live in, one step at a time, with no room to fear embarassment.
As it turns out, kindness makes you courageous.