During a Florida State University football team tour of a local middle school, wide receiver Travis Rudolph created a selfless moment of kindness that we should all inspire our campus leaders to do on a daily basis.
Travis saw 11-year-old Bo Peske sitting by himself in the cafeteria during lunch. It’s reported that Bo, who has autism, doesn’t have many friends. His mom often worries about him getting bullied.
Travis saw Bo sitting alone and decided to sit with him.
A school employee snapped a photo of the moment and sent it to Bo’s mom. She wrote about it on Facebook and the story went viral.
The photo taken by the cafeteria worker
Have you ever sat alone in a lunch room in school? If you have, and not by choice, you know how extremely isolating it can feel. Not only is it clear you are all alone, but your mind also starts messing with you by saying hurtful things.
Why does no one like me?
Why is everyone looking at me and laughing?
Maybe I deserve to be alone.
Our student leader trainings at Swift Kick dig deep into the social setting of a school using the metaphor of a dance floor. During a dance, there are people in the center of the floor who are fully involved and connected. Then, there are the people on the edge, often standing alone. The danger of the students on the edge is that they have the highest risk of dropping out of school. Worse, they have the highest chance of becoming part of the statistic that one in ten college freshman attempt suicide.
Campus leaders should use every moment they have to look for the ‘Bo’s’ on their dance floor and bring them into the social fabric of the campus culture.
I recently keynoted a new student orientation on the west coast. While all the students were coming into the room, I told the orientation leaders to spread out in the crowd and find people who seemed isolated. I told them: Introduce yourself. Make them laugh. Then, bring them over to someone else in the room and build a connection.
Random acts of kindness like Travis’ often get overlooked when it comes to creating a campus culture where everyone feels welcomed, connected, and engaged. But it is in these moments that the culture of the campus truly comes alive.
Here’s my challenge to you.
Within the next 24 hours, make a point to connect with 3 “Bos” within your community, whether they’re sitting alone, being ignored, etc. Watch how such a selfless moment can mean so much to someone else.
