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'This I Believe' Essay | Rece L. | This I Believe: In Kindness
December 14, 2025
The 'This I Believe' essay project invites Northwood Technical College students to reflect on the personal values, lessons, and experiences that shape who they are, putting students first by encouraging authentic self-expression and critical reflection.
Inspired by the 1950s radio program hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow, 'This I Believe' began as a national platform for people from all walks of life, including presidents, poets, teachers, and truck drivers, to share the beliefs that guided their lives. Decades later, NPR revived the series from 2005 to 2009, reigniting a movement of storytelling that continues to build understanding and respect.
In English Composition 1 courses, students carry forward that tradition by writing their own 'This I Believe' essays. Through this process, they strengthen their voices as writers and thinkers while contributing to Northwood Tech’s mission of transforming communities through education and shared understanding.
By reflecting on what they believe, students engage in meaningful collaboration, learning from themselves, their peers, and their community. This project reflects the college’s values of innovation, community, and student success as each essay helps illuminate the principles and experiences that unite and inspire us all.
Select student essays are featured on the college website with permission from the writer.
This I Believe: In Kindness
By Rece L.
As we grow older, we tend to see all the negativity in the world around us. It consumes emotion and discourages people from being their happiest self. Kindness for me is as necessary as oxygen is to a flame. I believe kindness is the purest form of happiness amongst strangers and can turn the tide of the day in a matter of seconds. The simple gesture of a compliment or immense curiosity towards someone is so easy to do yet means so much.
My goal every day is to make someone else's, whether that’s something as simple as asking them how their day was to helping them change a flat tire. Being kind is as easy as riding a bike, and sure for some people it’s not easy right away but with guidance and persistence, it is. Personally, the beauty of a sunset is determined by the day I had, and if I know I made someone's day, I know I did alright. I was lucky enough to be taught that everyone deserves kindness even when showing negativity towards you. When someone feels the need to consistently ridicule everything around them, I believe all they need is kindness and a friend to help them through whatever it is they are projecting. A famous quote by Walt Whittman says it best, it goes “be curious, not judgmental.” The constant slandering of words by strangers towards one another is a significant lack of curiosity. A simple smile or gesture of kindness can change a broken mind like the sails on a boat trapped in treacherous waters.
When I was in high school, there was a kid named Jason who I would say wore a target on his back for bullies. Every Thursday I walked to the elementary school where my mom worked and read to the students for the end of the day. Jason lived near the school, and I eventually just asked him to walk with me. Once again, it’s a very small gesture but a form of kindness, nonetheless. I believe that showing kindness to Jason would help gain his respect and trust towards me even though he is broken down and battered every day. Long story short, one of the last Thursdays our senior year, Jason told me how thankful he was to have me as a friend. He was emotional, as was I, and the true meaning of kindness and friendship was portrayed in the purest way. I believe Jason was a happier person having me as a friend and someone to protect him, and I believe I was a far better person in every way possible having him in my corner as well. That story will always be one of my proudest moments and truly shaped the overall significance of kindness in my life.
Overall, I believe kindness is needed in everybody's life. Emotions are only a response, and if given the opportunity to alter that response for another person, it should be in kindness. People can claim that it’s dangerous to be too kind and have an open heart because some people may treat you as a door mat, but at the end of the day, when you’re brushing your teeth and looking in the mirror, you have the ability to say you tried. Being able to say you tried feels as good as waking up Christmas morning as a kid. I believe in being kind, nothing more to it.
