Smile. Have you ever noticed how easily puppies make human friends? Yet all they do is wag their tails and fall over. ~Walter Anderson, The Confidence Course, 1997
It’s amusing when we talk about civility on campus because we have so many areas of incivility that we want to discuss and create programming and conversations around. I tend to fall to a simpler mindset – it’s the little things. We don’t necessarily need to focus on a huge task or ask anyone to do something expensive or time consuming. We can focus on one small thing….
Like a smile. I know that the weather is gray and now it’s getting colder, that the holidays are here and they are stressful, and that exams, grading and trying to fit everything in before the end of the semester is hectic. Smiling, however, is easy to multi-task into a day. It requires little energy or effort, and is a fairly inexpensive (FREE!) way to add happiness to your day and to create a climate change both on and off campus.
So today…as you walk the halls between classes and meetings, I challenge you to smile. Look others right in the eye and flash a big grin. This weekend travel and run errands, spend time with family, return to work, and then every day after that – smile as you mingle with others. Acknowledge that others exist in your world, from the students in the hallways to the staff members at your next meeting to the crazy throng of holiday shoppers…and then see – not just how we can create an atmosphere of positive change with one small gesture – but how it can positively change your life too.
The Civility Project
web.monroecc.edu/mcccivility
Amy Greer
MCC Civility Committee, The Civility Project
12/07/2011 |