Choosing to attend a small liberal arts college rather than a large public university is a big decision for some. With this choice, we are presented with the option of surrounding ourselves with either tens of thousands of fellow students or under five thousand fellow students. High schools exist that are larger than some liberal arts colleges, which is pretty crazy to think about (I came from a high school with nine hundred students at the most, so even the small boost from that to college was a big change for me). Going to college is a refreshing, maturing, and life-changing experience for most everyone who attends, and this depends very largely on the interpersonal relationships and interactions we experience along the way.

A liberal arts education is defined as "college or university studies (as language, philosophy, literature, abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills" by Merriam-Webster. Meaning: a liberal arts education teaches you more than just the subject you're majoring in -- it teaches you how to be successful in multiple facets of life. During my time at a liberal arts school, I was forced to take classes outside of my major to broaden my horizons (these are fun things called "distributive requirements"), so I did. I took classes like philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and psychology, classes I wouldn't have touched without the requirement set by my school. Not only did these "distribs" help me decide on what I wanted my career path to be, they also taught me to be kind.

We live in a pretty busy section of human history; cell phones, computers, televisions, and the internet help to ensure our minds are almost always occupied and never bored. Unfortunately, it is possible that this could lead to a little oblivion regarding others and how we treat them. By taking those "distribs," I learned about how diverse humankind is in regards to personalities, habits, opinions, and well-being. It pushed me to considerdifferent perspectives when thinking about situations involving more than just myself. It made me aware of more than just my own existence (which sounds very selfish, but in high school, I was seldom worried about more than anything that directly involved me. I just wasn't mature enough.).

A huge turning point I remember pertaining to showing kindness was in a philosophy class I took during the spring term at my school. We learned about the concept ofthe mind(in terms of the ability to think and be aware of the environment around you) and how many philosophers debate the existence of the mind in more than just humans. The idea that especially intrigued me was that of the intelligence of crows, ravens, and other birds in thecorvusgenus. Not only are they capable of using tools, but they also recognize human faces, warning each other if a known threat is approaching (don't be mean to crows... they'll never forget it!). They're consciously aware of the world around them in real-time, and they could theoretically have a "bad day" depending on what they encounter. Something clicked in my mind and I thought, “If any crow can have a bad day without us being aware of it, any other person could have a bad day as well. It might even be easier to tell!”

As we go about our day-to-day lives, it's easy to forget that other people experience the same emotions we do: happiness, sadness, and everything in between. They can run behind schedule, get caught off guard, and feel so overwhelmed they want to cry. What we consider a bad day can be a wonderful and lucky day for someone living a completely different life than us. I try to keep these facts in mind during my interactions with others, even if they're not aware of them. It helps remind me to be as kind as I am able to be atthat moment in time, even if my own day has worn me down a bit.

My "distributive requirements" taught me how different life is for others around the world and even others in our proximity. They taught me about injustices, variations in individual processing, and differential treatment. Most importantly,they taught me to be kind to others regardless of any of these things.

This article was written to promote kindness during the 2016 Compassion Games. For more information about this initiative, click here.