Giving a hug to a stranger, telling someone they look good today or holding the door for somebody are not difficult tasks to complete. In fact, no matter the task, the intention behind these actions is an even simpler thing; kindness.

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, student interns from the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement held a Random Acts of Kindness event to encourage and promote kindness and positivity at Guilford. Held in the Founders lobby, four students set up a digital wheel of acts and a table piled with delicious Papa John’s pizza from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

“We’re trying to promote kindness and giving, which is why you have to do a random act of kindness,” said junior Aeryal Ceaser, who helped to organize the event. “So, there’s things like giving a hug to someone or telling someone they look good today or picking up trash.”

Students walking into Founders were greeted by smiles and greetings from the team behind Random Acts of Kindness day.

“Do you want free pizza? All you need to do is a random act of kindness,” the team chanted.

Some students walked on past, but others stopped to read about the event and participate for the love of pizza and the will to spread kindness. During the two-hour event, many students, faculty and staff got involved in spinning the wheel and receiving their act of kindness.

Actions on the wheel included giving someone a compliment, writing a kind note to campus staff and telling a joke to somebody.

Sophomore Karime Estrada spun the wheel and was tasked with giving a thank-you note to a staff or faculty member.

“Everyone deserves a little bit of kindness in their life. It doesn’t hurt,” Estrada said.

Many students were happy to do something simple yet heartwarming for other people in an effort make their day a bit brighter.

“The event is great because it gives you the chance to give and receive compliments. Giving someone a compliment is enough to make their day on its own,” junior Daphne Zintak said. “The pizza’s a good incentive for doing a good thing as well.”

Throughout the entirety of the event, the atmosphere in Founders was positive. During the lunch rush, many more students got involved in doing random acts of kindness, happy to make someone else’s day better and receive pizza for their efforts.

“The wheel of kindness initiative was one of the better parts of my day,” Early College student Rohan Akki said. “Telling a joke made me much happier. Spreading happiness made me happier too. While I initially went for the pizza, the thing that made it memorable for me was brightening others’ days.”

Another fellow student who went along also had a similar opinion.

“My random act of kindness was to hold open a door for someone else. It may seem simple, but I really enjoy the opportunity to do this kind of thing,” Early College student Advika Kumar said. “I’m glad I had the chance to go to this event.”

The interns of OSLE have much more planned for the school year beyond Random Acts of Kindness day.

“Actually, there’s a lot if you look at What’s the G,” Ceaser said. It’s sent out every Monday. There are a lot of events to look forward to.”