College students lead busy lives. Each day is full of classes, meeting with professors, hitting up the library, attempting to stay fit at the gym, hanging out with friends and maybe tossing back a beer or two. It seems like we are always go, go, go. But in our daily struggle to fit in all of the things that we need to do, I am certain that we can find the time to smile.
Today I did a social experiment for my own personal fun. I walked from my class all the way up in Academic West, down to the gym, smiling at every single person I passed whether I knew them or not. I studied each reaction to my smile and was amazed at some of them. Many people naturally smiled back and it made me feel good that people on this campus are friendly enough to smile at a stranger. But others looked at the floor instantly like a simple smile made them feel awkward. I even got one startled look like a smile was the scariest thing they had ever seen. The various reactions made me realize one thing- people don’t smile enough.
When I was younger my mom would always tell me that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I think that the same applies for a smile. You could be having the absolute worst day. Just bombed your first Calculus exam, spilled your third cup of coffee all over your brand new cream-colored shirt, tripped when heading into the lib in front of the cute boy you’ve been crushing on…. Could the day really get much worse? But then as your walking back to your dorm ready to crash into bed and call your mom crying, you pass a random girl you’ve never seen before and she smiles at you widely. Suddenly you don’t feel as bad. A smile can’t cure your horrible day and it can’t undo the fact that you bombed a Calculus exam, but it can make you feel better for a minute, and maybe you will step back and think, “Hey, life will get better.”
Let’s think of Grey’s Anatomy. Surgeons change lives everyday. They perform life-changing procedures that, if properly done without complications, can save people’s lives. Smiling is like performing a surgery in a very far off sense. If you smile at someone you have the chance of improving their day, of changing their mind about a bad decision they were planning on making, of just helping to alter their mood for a moment. You have the chance to make a difference in someone’s life and all you need to do is contract those facial muscles and let the grin spread across your face. Smile because it can brighten someone’s day. Smile because it is the nice thing to do. Smile because it burns calories. Smile because why not!
