Surprises, Kindness & the Marshmallow Challenge Made My Day

On Wednesday like usual we had our HC class at J218. Just when I almost forgot we would have surprise singers that day, Dr. Udani invited them out in time. This time we had a pair of 'best friends', Davi and Suki to perform in front of the class. They might not sing perfectly well but I could see everyone, included me, was moved by the emotion they had put in their singing.

But the surprise did not end so soon. Just when the flashlights of cameras were about to stop, Dr. Udani suddenly came out and sang. This time it was even more surprising because we rarely hear him sings.

After the performance we moved on to the lesson. This time it was about kindness. We were shown a video introducing a 'kindness school'. Yes, that's right, a kindness school. I never heard of something like this and I did not expect a school would employ kindness to facilitate learning. This approach to learning is pretty new to me and yet I find it impressive and inspiring.

The Kindness School



I really love how they try to put people sitting together and let them each by each express their appreciation of the others. Personally I think sometimes we simply underestimate the 'power of appreciation' that we try not to show it. Simply saying 'you did a great job' or 'I really appreciate your help, thanks!' to someone can already make his day. This also means that you are attentive to others' contribution and you really care. Thus, in my opinion, showing appreciation to others is the very first and essential step to learn to be respectful and kind.

Nonetheless, the art of being kind is not easy to master.  Acting kind and showing appreciation to others are simple to do. But it is difficult to do them with sincerity. If one is acting kind to another because he wants to be liked or wants something in return, then it is not sincere. If one shows appreciation of someone's contribution or accomplishment for the same reason, then he is definitely not appreciating but flattering.

'It's good to be kind, but it's better to be sincerely kind.'

Afterwards, we had the Marshmallow Challenge game. It was not my first time to play this game. Before we began playing I thought I would do better this time but I failed, mostly because our group did not plan much on the structure of the tower. Since we did not have a plan, we did not have a clear direction while constructing the tower. That's why I agree with what Shiping has said: whenever we need to finish something, we probably need to have a bigger picture of it first. Just like the 4 managerial functions, we PLAN before we ORGANIZE, LEAD and CONTROL.

Anyway, I truly enjoyed this lesson and I APPRECIATE the fun and inspirations the others have brought to the class!

Cheers :)

Raven