The sandstone base to the bronze of Albert A Murphree, the first President of this University speaks volumes. With Kindness, Vision, and Wisdom, he devoted his life to the cause of education. As president of the university from 1909-1927, he laid the foundation on which the university is built. These core values are how this great man is forever remembered, because of his devotion to them.
Today the squirrels outnumbered the students 3 to 1; one of us had a field day, the other a sore wrist from holding onto a leash. I did however, have a field day in the quality department. Only talking with maybe one hundred students and faculty at the most, I made sure to make the best of it. “I hear that there is a Boston down here” were the words of Mandy who has a rescue Boston named Ladybug, she and I were trading stories when her colleague, Beth stopped by. Both of these women work directly with the student body on campus. Mandy is designing a restorative justice program and loved the tie-in with One Million Acts of Kindness; they left with one hundred plus stickers. Bogart is one gifted dog, bringing these two caring women our way. As we were ready to head back to the plaza, Bobbie a woman who was thrilled about The Kindness Bus Tour, insisted on helping the cause. Thank you to all.

On Saturday, I realized one small glitch in my itinerary, I am arriving in Florida one week early. After seven months since leaving Cleveland, I finally crossed the Florida border today and I’m early. I’m early because all state colleges in Florida are on spring break this week. Whoops! Lucky for me, because of its size, UF still has thousands of students who have remained on campus. Bogart is on cloud nine with all of the squirrels on the green space where we were able to pull the bus. He even seems to have had some help treeing one of the rascals, as is depicted in today’s photo. I had the opportunity to speak with nearly two hundred students in my late afternoon visit. It is nice to have a smaller crowd with little to no pressure of rushing to class, allowing  the conversations to last longer. This mission is turning out to know no boundaries as we have had more interest, in a very big way. More news on this in the very near future. I am honored.

In little over a two hour period, while sitting on the patio of a local coffee shop, four separate moms with children stopped by to get to meet Bogart and learn about The Magical Kindness Bus Tour. All four moms expressed wanting the very best the world has to offer, but were concerned what sort of world it would be.”What a great thing you are doing, don’t ever stop” was the inspiration one mom offered. Another caring mother was on her way with her two children to spend a few days with their grandfather. She expressed the want for people to connect on a personal basis, a return to small town values. I agree wholeheartedly. “Kindness is the value, when practiced  continually, can help us return to those small town values”, was a family rule one mom said. “Don’t ever let a disconnection with your child ever occur, overcome any disconnect immediately” another mom offered. All four of these moms were instilling valuable lessons, by being constant role models to their children. What an insightful morning for me. Thank you moms.

When on campus for more than one day, it is rewarding for me when students return on the days following our initial introduction. Two such students are Elizabeth and Ivey, geology geniuses on this campus. These girls rock, pardon the pun. Both of them are thrilled with becoming on-campus and off-campus ambassadors for One Million Acts Of Kindness. They are on board for living a lifetime of kindness. David, who has a future broadcasting career, is a student reporter/anchor for VSU-TV Live. He interviewed me for an upcoming segment on his station. His questions about The Bus Tour, were thought provoking and to the point. A good quality to have in any industry. The two days I spent at this campus, gave me the time to talk with nearly eight hundred students.

Pulling into a large parking lot, to turn the bus around on this unfamiliar campus, was the best thing I did today. It was a lot to the on-campus Presbyterian Church. I was told by some men associated with the church that I shouldn’t miss the opportunity to talk to Tar, the assistant pastor. Tar is a woman with a heart of gold, after touring the bus for nearly a half hour, she said that this was just what she needed today. She is going to network the message of One Million Acts of Kindness to her school. I pulled on campus and creatively parked The Kindness Bus in a high-traffic area. The other best thing that happened was talking to Bobbie Warren, from the English Department. Before I knew it, she had talked me into talking to a classroom full of students. I love when opportunities like these present themselves. Thank you to everyone involved in this last- minute professorship. This campus had no shortage of interested students. Many were already aware of this movement, one student already had a sticker from his friend at UGA. While on campus, another best thing happened. I heard from Patti Dean,  a kindergarten teacher I met last evening. She told me her family is now on their personal quest of one million acts of kindness. As I began writing this blog, Sara, one of the students from the classroom I visited today, and her friend Christina, stopped by to get a first-hand briefing on my mission. They are thrilled at the prospect of being a positive influence on this world…another best thing. The final best thing just happened, the manager at this local eatery just gave me ten free meal tickets to pass out to students on campus tomorrow…true to the Truett spirit.