We were asked to write an opinion piece about how I viewed the world. Using After Effects, we took pictures from the internet and paired it with an audio recording of our perspective piece. This is my piece:
I would have been sitting on the bench, hearing the squeaking of shoes behind me as she ran back and forth. She would be doing some simple jogs to reassure herself that she was fine and ready to go back on the court. Instead, I found out through her sister’s Snapchat story. “Please pray for my sister”, simply typed out on a black screen. The next day, I finally understood: my opponent on the basketball court and my friend of six years had collapsed courtside and passed away.
As a freshman in high school, I hadn’t dealt with anything like this.
Two weeks later, I sat in English class with my laptop. I stared at an Instagram posted dedicated to her on the screen. As soon as the guy sat next to me, looked over, and asked who she was, I felt the first tear slowly descend down my cheek. The tears didn’t stop until the bell rang to signal the end of the day and to me, the end of her life.
Social media began to flood with blue and yellow hearts. It wasn’t just people that knew her, stranger posting and reposting. #signforkim. It became a thing, a thing that people were posting to get the word out for her favorite basketball player to sign her shoes. The way my community came together that week was insane and even though not everyone knew her, everyone tried to help her dreams come true. It made me smile for the first time in awhile. A smile, a simple gesture to show emotion. She always had the biggest smile on her face.
I have always been known to be a happy person, but since her death, I have made more conscious efforts to spread happiness, something she did so well. Reminding the world that happiness resides in the littlest things, from tipping the waitress, to buying my coworkers snacks, to a simple smile to a stranger.
I believe that if the world just treated everyone better, we would all be living in a better world. Sure, it sounds hard but taking small steps is key. We should start with ourselves first because the happiness that we send out to the world will spread. It doesn’t have to be a big act like donating thousands of dollars to the local food bank, it would start with a small act of kindness to a stranger or a close friend. It’s not all a competition, it’s an act of good so everyone will be nicer and more compassionate.
My job’s mission statement says it best: I want to be “the best part of people’s days” and you should too.