Did you happen to receive a rose with an inspirational quote last week in the Student Centre? What about a waffle? With a few acts of kindness, the Middle Eastern Student Association brightened the days of students, faculty, and staff last week, when the group held several events where they performed random acts of kindness and encouraged other students to do the same.
Jalal Al Noubani, MESA’s vice president of external relations, says that it was a unanimous decision to spread kindness through the campus and that the group’s motto served as inspiration. “Our motto and mission is ‘To be everywhere and impact everything.’ As a student group, we understand the daily stresses that students go through,” Noubani says. “Doing something kind, with no reason, at a random unplanned moment of your day would create joy, which was our inspiration.” Noubani went on to say that MESA’s members wanted to ensure students felt genuinely surprised and significant and would go on to carry the torch of kindness.
The week began with a workshop that prepared roses with motivational quotes attached to them. “The following day consisted of free custom-made waffles that were given out in the Student Centre,” Noubani adds. “On the side, we made special compliments and gave them out to students. On the last day, we thought we also owed the UTM staff some appreciation for all their hard work, so we gave out baked goods to the UTM staff and that was greatly appreciated.”
As for the students, though some of them were shocked, the majority were pleasantly surprised.
MESA plans on holding more such events. “The purpose of a student club is to cater to a lot of student needs and create a platform that enforces a positive atmosphere,” Noubani concludes. “The turnout and reactions we received when doing this [were] indescribable and moving. We would like to see more smiles on campus, and be the club that contributed to making someone’s day brighter.”
