Random Acts of Kindness: Hayley Geis

Nowadays, random acts of kindness are few and far between.  Too often it seems that we are too distracted by our cell phones or preoccupied with our own lives to care to reach out to others.  Throughout the past few years, Tri Delta's Hayley Geis has committed herself to reminding people of the huge impact a small gesture can make.  While Hayley has much bigger dreams for this in the future, she decided to start small this year by bringing the National Random Acts of Kindness week to Columbia, specifically in the Greek community.

I personally had the honor to talk one-on-one with Hayley when she was planning the week months ago.  People say someone is most beautiful when speaking about her passions, and I can truly say I've never witnessed such genuine passion in anyone's eyes.

Hayley Geis is the epitome of what Tri Delta women should strive to be: women with beautiful hearts and big dreams that they want to share with the world with their best friends by their side.

On behalf of the chapter, we are so incredibly proud of you, Hayley, and so thankful to have the opportunity to support, grow and learn from you.

...And did I mention she's only a freshman?

Hayley Geis

"Random Acts of Kindness has always been one of my favorite concepts. In high school I would put sticky notes with inspirational quotes on car windshields or bring cookies or candy to school randomly. I think that it is the best feeling in the world to make someone smile, even if you don't receive credit for it. I truly believe that any act of kindness, no matter how small, can have an unmeasurable impact on everyone it touches. I wanted to start random acts of kindness here at USC because I think that if people take their heads off of their phones or eyes off the ground and recognize their fellow students, the university would be a much happier place. I obviously couldn't start with the entire student body, so I thought Greek life would be a great place to begin. I planned a week of events to help get everyone involved in the nationally-recognized week of kindness that went through Feb. 10-14. It is my goal to get the entire university aware of the amazing effects that small, random acts of kindness can create. 

MONDAY:

We passed out Compliment Cards to each house that were filled out and picked up on Thursday and then redistributed to the individuals and organizations on Friday.

TUESDAY:

“I Am Thankful For” and “Prayer Request” Posters were passed around to each house to remind people that no matter how hard things may seem, it is always helpful to stop and remember everything that you have to be thankful for and to remind people to be praying for you. 

WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY:

Because of the snow days, we modified the week and did Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday's events into one. 

We gave thanks to the kitchen staff, passed out "pay it forward" cards, distributed candy and compliment cards in the buckets that were being passed around to each house. We wrote thank you notes to each house's kitchen staff on heart notecards and sorted them, along with the compliments, into the buckets. We placed everything in the buckets and took them to the houses on Thursday night. 

Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change. No act of kindness is too small. In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to everyone you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with. No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another and good example is followed.  I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to share my passion for random acts of kindness with my Tri Delta sisters and other members of the Greek community!

DL, Hayley"