Two Sources, One Message: Kindness

by Dr. Mike Davis
Head of School

I read two articles this week in two different places, but they seem to be saying the same thing.
 
The first was an opinion piece in the New York Times titled “Check this Box if You’re a Good Person,” by Rebecca Sabky.  She is a former admissions director at Dartmouth, and she has seen thousands upon thousands of high school-and-soon-to-be-college students hoping to make it through the admission process. She talks about giving a presentation in New Jersey and at the conclusion, amid a sea of students, one approached her and said, “Excuse me, ma’am,” smiling through a set of braces. “You dropped a granola bar on the floor in the cafeteria. I chased you down since I thought you’d want your snack.” 
 
Sabky says that among the thousands of college applications she read year after year, it was not difficult to find kids who were smart and talented, who led clubs or outdoor trips, or who, at a young age, had already accumulated a long list of accomplishments. 
 
Yet, the most irresistible quality in a candidate, Sabky says, is one that shows kindness. “It’s a trait that would be hard to pinpoint on applications even if colleges asked the right questions. Every so often, though, it can’t help shining through.” She went on to give examples of those that stood out to her in her career.
 
 The other piece that I read was a review by Bari Weiss in the Wall Street Journal of a book titled Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life…and Maybe the World, by Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven. McRaven was commander of the forces that led the raid to take out Osama bin Laden. 
 
This book started as a commencement address in 2014 at the University of Texas, and after ten million views online, it is now being released as a book.  McRaven told students, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.” McRaven uses lessons from his own life and from people under his command to describe the human qualities that help people endure and succeed. Among them: compassion, honor, courage, and humility.
 
Though the two pieces are obviously unrelated, they are examples of why at Colorado Academy, our work on courage and kindness with students is paramount to kids’ success, not as students, but as people.  The two pieces are reminders that no matter our achievements, our scores, or our accolades, what often matters most is simply the kind of person we are at our core.  What matters are the moments that define how we treat others; moments that add up to weeks, and years, and lifetimes that will hopefully inspire others to do the same.
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