As a Mizzou Student, you see some pretty incredible things around campus. If you don’t see it firsthand, surely you hear about it on Twitter, Facebook, or the latest addition of Yik Yak. Amidst much tension concerning the recent allegations and sexual assault cases on campus, I found it fitting to share a few of the encouraging sights I observed this past week.

Early this week, after a long convincing, I brought myself to take advantage of the nice weather and go for a run through campus. I left my building, put in my headphones, and started on my route. Halfway through my run, huffing and puffing, I came upon Stankowski, the student recreation field. As I was running, I noticed two people quickly headed my direction on the track. Both of the individuals were in wheelchairs. One of the students, the larger of the two, was saying something to the other, what looked like motivation. I slowed down and eventually stopped to watch. As I watched, I noticed the two had a basketball that they bounce-passed to one another as they sped down the track. The two smiled as they trained together, and I figured they were close friends.

Eventually, the duo’s workout was over and they began to exit the track. Trying to hide the fact that I had been watching them, I began to walk away from my viewing area. As I walked away, I saw the two come to the edge of the track. The larger man unbuckled himself from the chair and stood up. The second man remained in his chair. Stopped in my tracks, literally, I was astonished. It felt like I was watching a commercial. Needless to say, I had a newfound burst of energy to go a little farther on my run.    

A few days later, I decided to do some late-night grocery shopping at the Mizzou Market  (Who knew they accept student charge?). I finished up homework at about 10 p.m. and headed over to the market. The area outside the market was desolate other than one girl sitting on a bench alone. As I was headed into the market, someone approached the girl on the bench.  The closer I got, I saw that the person was a football player.   

FP: “Hey, are you doing okay?” 

G: “Oh yeah, I’m fine! I’m just waiting for my friends to come.” 

FP: “Do you need someone to wait with you?” 

G: “Oh no, it’s totally fine. It’s late anyways, but thank you!” 

FP: “It’s totally fine. I’m on the football team and just with everything going on lately, we had a meeting and they really want us athletes to look out for you girls.”  

I watched from inside the market as the two continued to talk until the girl’s friends arrived. The player waved goodbye, and walked into the market. As I met him at the door, I told him what he had done was awesome.    

“Yeah man, our responsibility should go beyond just the football field, you know?”

On Tuesday, the entire Mizzou community suffered the loss of sophomore Cale Boedeker of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. That night, AG Rho held a candlelight vigil on their front lawn. Being Greek, the loss of a Cale hit close to home for my entire fraternity and myself. As brothers, we walked across campus to the vigil. None of us knew Cale personally, but the loss of a fellow student affects all of us. We arrived at the vigil early and stood off to the side. Within 10 minutes, hundreds and hundreds students gathered on the front lawn of the house for the gathering. Hearing AG Rho brothers talk about Cale, seeing hundreds and hundreds of candles honoring Cale, so many people crying and mourning; it was heartbreaking. Most of us never knew Cale personally, but the loss of a fellow Tiger affects all of us.        

All of these settings may seem like minute, quotidian, simple things. But when you're on a campus with 36,000 students, moving in all different directions, it's quite moving to see. I urge you to slow down and take a look around every once in a while; you never know what you’ll see.