"Pay it Forward" means responding to someone’s kindness on oneself by being kind to someone else.

This past school year, I was part of the Pay It Forward club at Point Park, which had the goal of doing good for others with the hope they would do good for someone else and it would launch a chain of good-doing. On the last day of my first year of college, I had a lot of flex dollars that I needed to get rid of so I went to Starbucks with my boyfriend. We got the biggest drinks possible and then while we were waiting, a lady went to pay for her drink with a credit card and I went over and said that I would pay for her. She argued with me but I insisted. We had been waiting for our drinks and I had the idea to pay for someone so when she walked in I knew I wanted to pay for her. Eventually, she let me pay and I felt really good about what happened. What happened next though was incredible...

As I'm still standing there, this lady bought the girl's drink behind her and then she paid for the man behind her. It ended up being a chain of people buying each other's drinks out of the kindness of their hearts.

These days it is rare to us that someone will be nice and willing to pay for you. Most people think that they are just getting a handout and so they fight and don't want their 'Charity'. We actually should be embracing the action and spreading the kindness. What I saw was an example of how if you are just nice to one person how the love can spread.

Honestly, this is the most important lesson I learned all year. If you want to see change, start with one small action and then it can spread. We have the power to create positivity and make the world a little brighter. It’s hard enough going day by day with our own problems and we sometimes forget that just a simple action can make someone’s whole day. Kindness is very important. Without it, we will all just go through life being negative and alone. Whether it is paying for a coffee or helping out a shelter it is important to give back to the community. It creates a sense of comfort and I know you’ll feel better about things if you do it out of the kindness of your heart. It all starts with you... Just Pay it Forward.