Bill Clinton was president of the U.S. for eight years, and since then has co-chaired the Clinton Foundation that funds social change initiatives around the world. Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, there is no denying that this is a person who has made an impact on the world.
Yet I will always associate him with a Friday in early June 2014, when he visited our closest friends whose 12-year-old son was dying from juvenile ALS. Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, President Clinton spent an hour with the family, with no press coverage or any publicity. The boy was a presidential history buff and actually stumped Mr. Clinton on some trivia.
Before his death a few weeks later, the boy received a letter from the former president with a handwritten answer to the trivia question. Mr. Clinton also called our friends following their son’s death and even a couple of years afterwards. The calls and the note showed that the impact of the visit had been mutual, leaving an impression not just on the family but on a former U.S. president who has spoken with tens of thousands of people.
President Clinton brought a ray of light into this family’s darkness and in so doing, found himself emotionally affected by a special young boy. While we are not all former presidents with star power, we do all have the capacity for acts of kindness that will be remembered by those on the receiving end long after we may have forgotten them. Performing those kindnesses help us grow, and the memories of those on the receiving end are the impact that we can leave on this world.
When it comes to college applications, some parents fret that their child doesn’t have the right kind of community service. However, parents have the ability to set an example of how small acts of kindness and justice can leave a big impact. Bring them with you on condolence calls; ask them to shovel snow or buy groceries for an elderly neighbor; go together to a protest or vigil; pick out items together to donate to a clothing drive.
Remember, we are raising human beings, not college applications. If we do the former well, the latter will naturally follow.