Why I Value Social Good
Ever since I was little, I would watch my mother help others; at her job as a high-risk ultrasound tech, she would comfort nervous soon-to-be mothers and encourage them with snapshots of their babies. She would listen to their problems and worries and treat them as her own. She helped them as more than just a medical technician; she was a confidant, a support-system, and a friend, in the moments when her patients needed one. My mother was the first person to show me that you could help people, in many different ways, by just listening, and simply treating others with human compassion and care.
This is what I believe to be the heart of social good; helping others in whatever capacity you may be able to. In the past, I have felt as though it would be very difficult to make an impact on the community around me; To me — someone whose strengths lie in the humble roots of liberal arts and communication — it was hard to see how I could make a difference. I don’t feel like I stand alone in that viewpoint though. I think that there’s a certain perception of what it means do social good; often, “society” is framed as some unreachable body that requires ample amounts of money or power in order to be reformed or improved. But social good isn’t only about grand gestures or big donations –a big part of social good lies in valuing human connection.
When I talk about connection, I refer to base emotions and motivations that bind every human together; our pain or struggles, worries, and fears; and the raw empathy that allows us to feel that inside ourselves when others show us their emotion. In some ways, we live in a time where our minds are constantly preoccupied with our own problems; our assignments, our careers, our futures — and these things are what we characterize as “important”. And while these aspects of life as college students may be important, it is as, if not more important to remind ourselves of what will make an impact on our lives once we’ve turned in the assignments and settled in our careers: the connections we make with others. Conversations with others, moments of kindness, acts of support from those around us — these are the things that we as humans carry with us, after all else has faded or been achieved.
These bonds are what facilitate change in the world. How can we be expected to transform our community and commit to social good without first looking outside ourselves to the people around us? Even the smallest real connection with another person opens the door for deeper, more fulfilling exchanges of emotion and caring. These experiences, now more than ever, are what will drive the world forward. The outbreak of COVID-19 has, in a lot of ways, returned us this path of outward facing decisions. In order to sustain through this pandemic, every person in society must display compassion and responsibility, not only toward those in their family or social sphere, but also to those that are associated to them through their humanity.
Social good isn’t something that only the few people with “kind hearts” or “good intentions” should strive toward; it is a collective endeavor that lies in every single person, regardless of skill set or experience. I’ve learned that the steppingstone to social good is getting in touch with your own humanity. Even grand gestures of social good have to build from somewhere, and through everyday interactions, I am reminded of what my mother has always displayed in her life: helping others starts with a single embrace of empathy.
