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Today I had the chance to support 500+ upper school students in their volunteer efforts across the City of Charlotte. You plan, and plan, and plan, and nothing ever seems to be perfect. Today, I even told myself, work as late as you can leading up to the MLK Day programs to make sure things are right. I barely got two hours of sleep on Monday night leading up to today's service projects. The loss of sleep came from excitement and maybe a bit of anxiety to watch the day unfold. Today unfolded and of course, the day was perfect! You might ask why it was perfect, and it's because I found a moment of inspiration in the most unlikely place.
We just finished the senior class service projects at Johnson C. Smith University and I was headed over to Merry Oaks Elementary School to meet our freshman class for their MLK service project. The day was moving along quickly, and we didn't have as much time as we had hoped to read with the students at Merry Oaks. One thing after another, and I was concerned our students were not getting the full experience with the students they planned on reading to. Well, I learned quickly to never underestimate what students pick up on and the impact of a simple word of encouragement. Once we completed our read-a-long at Merry Oaks, we held a recap meeting in the Athletic Center and I spent about fifteen minutes talking to students about MLK, service, and setting the tone for service on this campus for years to come. As I mentioned earlier, you never know where you find inspiration. About ten minutes later, I left the athletic center walking back to my office and I ran into Jacolbe Cowan. I asked him what he thought of the day and he said he really enjoyed it. He went on to share that he also was thinking about what I said during the recap, and it made him think about how to start volunteering more. This is great news to my ears! His words were not only encouraging to me personally but a reminder that it only takes a few encouraging words and sharing your heart to inspire someone. The funny thing is the person that was inspired was me. What a great day as a subtle reminder that it is up to us all to be the change we want to see in the world.