Kindness by Maricruz

Kindness by Maricruz - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

In my English class, we were discussing our summer reading books and I remember vividly the quote my teacher wrote up on the whiteboard.  The quote read “A part of kindness is loving someone more than they deserve.”  I would’ve never have guessed that a quote as simple as this one would provoke such a profound moment for me.  He told us an anecdote involving his brother telling their mother how he hated her because she had done something he didn’t like.  At that moment he stopped and looked up at his students and said, “And do you know what my mother said to him?” We didn’t answer as we were riveted by his story.  After a long and deliberate pause, he slowly said “She told her son, that had just told her he despised her, that she was saddened by his comment especially since she loved him so much.”  This lesson on love and kindness made me realize that we take the love we are given for granted.  We are not the nicest of beings, especially teenagers who believe they know what is best for themselves, and the unconditional love that we are given shows that the world could be a much better place if we treated others how we want to be treated and not how they treat us, regardless if it is good or bad.  The lesson was particularly profound for me because it genuinely made me want to treat others better, especially those who show me nothing but kindness.  This lesson also had a dual purpose in opening my eyes to the possibility of becoming a teacher.  My teacher, a person who is not required to tell his students personal stories, did so anyways because he believed it would help us understand each other better and hopefully change the way we treat one another.  His lecture was deeply meaningful to me and it made me want to teach other students and open their eyes to mankind.  I wanted, because of this lesson, to share my knowledge with others if it meant that, one day, I could make such an impression on a student like the one my teacher left on me.  This class lesson was simply life-altering and it made me think more about what kind of person I wanted to be.  It helped me define myself and for that, I’m forever in my English teacher’s debt.  Just always remember this:  Love takes time to feel and give, but compassion and kindness can be given to a complete stranger in a matter of seconds.