(soft music)
-: The best part about being a teacher is
the people, the students.
I never have a boring day at work.
Usually doesn't feel like work.
It's just fun and I get to learn
right along with the students.
My name is Ferial Pearson and I'm an assistant professor
at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The secret kindness agents project grew out
of the Sandy Hook tragedy
because I had a daughter the same age as the students
who were murdered there
and I had high school students who I knew
had giant hearts and wanted to do good in the world
and it was our way of taking power back.
So we went around as anonymous agents of kindness
with agent names.
Trying to make our school a better place
and trying to reduce harm and violence where we were.
What if we do random acts of kindness.
If you want to I'll have this envelope
and you can draw something you know
and I will give you a reward if you go do that
and then they said it's not really kindness
if we expect a reward from you,
it has to come from the heart
and that blew me away.
They created it, it wasn't me.
It was just me grasping desperately at straws
and them taking it and running with it
and that's how the secret kindness agents started
and I tried to carry that into every interaction I have
with my students, with my children,
with my friends, with my family
and so when I a student on campus
I make sure that they know that I am glad to see them.
When I see a colleague on campus I make sure
they know that I am so happy that they are there
and in my life.
My professors at Gustavus really instilled a sense
of social justice in me as a teacher
that teaching is not just reading, writing, arithmetic.
It's preparing our students to be
good citizens of the world and gave me
different ways to think about things
and to give me permission to have a different perspective
and that different perspectives are respected
and are valid and that really helps me
live a life of purpose because my purpose is
to make things good and to right wrongs
and to fix things that are broken if I can.
I'm Ferial Pearson and I'm a Gustie.
Make your life count.