Many students were inspired by the Rachel’s Challenge assembly in November and are continuing to spread kindness around Bel Air High School. The assembly opened the eyes of many students, making them realize how powerful words truly are. Many students are still following the challenge which spreads nothing but positive things.

Rachel challenged her reader to simply be kind, which may seem like a simple task, but as we all know, it is not. Whether being kind is picking up a book that someone dropped, or sitting with a new student at lunch, kindness goes a long way.

But kindness isn’t just how you act, it’s what you say. One of Rachel’s challenges was to speak kindly; again that sounds simple. But we can all attest to times where kindness is not what we were speaking. Kindness can be spread through compliments, or giving someone a word of helpful advice. If you see someone with something you like, compliment it. Don’t be afraid to say something you like about someone: it could make their entire day.

“Kindness helps human kind. It allows individuals to feel self-worth and it also allows others to feel better about themselves,” says Brogan Gerhart, audience member at the Rachel’s Challenge assembly.

Judgment, it’s wrong but everyone does it. We see something we don’t like and we think or say nasty, unneeded, negative comments about it. For some, this is second nature and for others it’s a rarity, but we all do it. Rachel even wrote herself that she wasn’t perfect, as none of us are, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do our best to improve upon ourselves.  As quickly as negative thoughts come into our heads, is as quickly positive thoughts came come in our heads. Just remember: there is good in everyone.

According to Ali McSpadden, an audience member at the Rachel’s Challenge assembly, “Judging people before you know them isn’t okay. You don’t know them, or what they’ve been through so you have no right to judge. Judging someone doesn’t make you any better than anyone else.”

The last challenge Rachel left us with was to start a chain reaction. Now starting a chain reaction may seem hard and like a huge thing, but it is attainable. If someone holds the door for you, even if you’re not directly behind them it makes you feel good, like that person stopped where they were going just to do something nice for you. Now you are more inclined to hold the door for the person behind you and this chain continues. There you go… you just started a chain reaction. Because you held the door for one person longer than you had to, there is a cycle of kindness. Now this may seem like a small thing, but that’s where the big things are built.

Take Rachel’s challenges, spread kindness, both through actions and words, don’t judge others, and start a chain reaction. Lead a life that makes you proud of yourself. There is nothing wrong with being positive and spreading kindness; it makes you happy and it makes those around you happier and to want to do more good with their own lives.

“People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”

-Rachel Scott