I stayed in Williamsburg last night and woke up to a beautiful morning, sunny and warm. I went back to the same spot on campus, but, strangely, there were very few students around. I decided to switch to another location, and still very few students walking around. I spent about 3 hours and talked to about 40-50 young men and women, had some good conversations, and figured it’s time to roll along. Everyone must have been in class.
I had a few mixed feelings upon leaving Kentucky. I certainly know I have to press on, but Kentucky was a warm and wonderful place. Everyone was so interested and willing to work to keep the idea alive. I hope they will send me their emails so I can keep in touch.
On my way to Knoxville and the University of Tennessee, I stopped at McDonald’s for a coffee. I met up with a church bus full of senior citizens, all women. They loved the bus, and I spoke to each one and gave each a sticker to remember the visit. They were a fun group.
The University of Tennessee is a downtown campus and, naturally, there’s nowhere to park. Eventually I found an unused truck delivery area and found the courage to park there. Bogart spotted a park across the street and pulled me over to it. The park had a statue of a man holding a torch with a perpetual flame. We quickly saw it was a statue of the Tennessee “Volunteer.” Very appropriate since this is the Volunteer State. I was there for about an hour, a nurses education building was close by so I was able to talk to many of the nursing students. This is a big campus, so I spent much of the rest of the day scouting things out for tomorrow.
I received an Email from a teacher, Cindy, in Havelock, Ontario. I’m not sure how she found me, but she wants to use the One Million Acts of Kindness as a program in their elementary school. There are about 300 kids in the school. What a great idea!
Also, I got a phone call from Amy Kelley, who saw me in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She is the head of a day care center with kids from 2 to 13 and she would love to use the Kindness Project in their center. I hope this word keeps spreading like this.
While walking to and from class everyday at the University of Tennessee, many of us are used to having solicitors and preachers accosting us at least weekly. On Thursday, however, a friend and I were making the trip across campus when we ran into you and Bogart at the stoplight. Your message and the positive way you presented it really stood out from the doom and gloom that are the norm from people like you on campus and I really appreciated it! Your sticker is on my water bottle for all to see and you guys definitely made our day, keep going and spreading your message!