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Speech by Ryland L. ’28

Below is a transcription of a speech given to MS/US students during an assembly

When I was asked to give this speech about kindness, the first that came to mind was a story about a tiny act of kindness that I still remember from nearly a decade ago. At that time, I was competing in kids triathlons. It was a race combining swimming, biking, and running. This was my first year trying this and I joined a team to practice with to prepare for the events. I didn’t know anyone on this team. I was also very shy at the time. I remember on this particular day, we had to do a practice race and I was feeling pretty nervous because this was my first time and, again, I still didn’t really know anyone here. We were essentially practicing a full length race as if it were the real one, but there was nothing really at stake. It was a warm and cloudy day in Jacksonville, Florida. There were about 1500 kids in these races. I started the race and I was feeling pretty anxious. Once I started the biking portion, I remember starting to feel fatigued and then, one of the worst things that could happen in a race actually happened. I fell off of my bike onto the ground. When I fell, I was close to the end of the biking portion, but I still had the running part. I don’t remember how I felt, but I remember that I was discouraged and I did not really finish.I was on the ground, ready to give up, when a kid came up to me, who appeared to be a few years older than me so he probably already finished his race, and he asked if I was okay. I told him I was and he started convincing me to keep going. It was because of his encouragement that I kept going and finished the practice race. His name was Julian. Julian ran with me throughout the rest of the running part. Although this might seem small, this was very important because this kid encouraged me and ran with me. He made me feel like I had a friend at this place. Had he not helped me and simply acted as a bystander, he would not necessarily have been doing anything wrong, but I might have become discouraged after this incident. This is why it is so important to take advantage of opportunities that may arise to be kind.

Thinking back on this day, I realized that this was just a practice race, and there was nothing at stake for me. This race didn’t really matter. Because of this, there was really nothing and no one telling Julian to help me, or take time out of his day to run with me to the finish, but he chose to because he was kind. Simple acts like these are enough to be considered kindness. Kindness can be going a little out of your way to help someone out, but it doesn’t have to be a complex plan. I realized that if you are genuinely trying to help someone and thinking about them rather than yourself, you are being kind. Even if it does not work out exactly as planned, the gesture is always appreciated. Oftentimes, you are unable to plan these things. The kid who helped me out wasn’t planning to do that, he simply saw an opportunity and chose in the moment to be kind. This experience helped me realize that kindness does not have to be a big production as long as you are helping someone just for the sake of helping. 

Julian probably doesn’t even remember me today. To him, he was just doing a small act of kindness to help me out. I was surprised however that such a small act from so long ago was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about kindness. It was a small gesture, but I remembered it almost a decade later. This is what you should remember about kindness. Despite the fact that you might think you are just doing a small thing to help someone out, this might stick with them for years and really have an impact on their lives.

Opportunities to be kind are not rare. Rather, these opportunities to be kind can easily be found throughout your day to day lives. Chances to be kind happen all the time and it is your decision to take advantage of them. Kindness can be small and it is simple to practice. Kindness is not something that you must go far out of your way to accomplish and no matter how small of an act you think it may be, it can go a very long way in the lives of others. Because of Julian’s encouragement, I went on to make the podium in one of the biggest kids triathlons in the US that year.