To have successfully participated in Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) week, juniors Kamaria Taylor and Michelle Soi could have simply smiled at someone or held open a door. Instead, they undertook a project that will positively affect about half of the school, and will hopefully continue to encourage other acts of kindness long after RAK week is over.
Juniors Kamaria Taylor (left) and Michelle Soi (right) pose with the baskets in the locker room bathroom. With the help of their families, they purchased all the supplies themselves.
For those who may not know, what exactly did you guys do for Inglemoor?
Taylor: We got tampons and pads together and put little notes on them saying “please just use them, don’t abuse them,” and then we put them in every stall in the girls bathrooms at Inglemoor.
Why did you decide to do this?
Soi: Because it was RAK week and we decided to do an act of kindness for the school.
Taylor: I know how it feels when you don’t have anything in your backpack and you go to use the bathroom and you’re like “Oh no, I started my period!” and then you have down to the nurse, and that can be embarrassing because there might be people in there. Plus it’s just a hassle to walk out of the bathroom, go to the nurse, put a pad on or a tampon in and then go back to class. This way it’s easy use for everyone.
Soi: I don’t even use tampons, but I always keep some in my backpack just in case any girls want them. So I thought: why not take it a step up?
Besides your own personal experiences, was there anything else that inspired you to do this for the school?
Taylor: Actually my mom kind of did because [a few years ago] they didn’t supply any tampons or pads to girls — they had to buy them from tampon dispensers which are out a lot of the time. Girls didn’t have access to them, so my mom would donate pads and tampons to the school.
What are your hopes for this going forward?
Soi: I just hope that people will refill it and we can keep doing nice things for each other.
Taylor: We want everyone to keep it going; they’re here for a good use so we hope that we don’t see them around campus. Everyone knows that girls have periods so it’s not like a humorous thing anymore.
Edited for length and clarity.
Katie Anderson • Feb 16, 2018 at 5:05 PM
I love what you guys are doing! Not only was this so well thought out and impactful but I look forward to seeing more students commit to random acts of kindness! You go girls!!!