Sophomore Gavin Kawaguchi has been given value through the work of Sahuaro High School and it made him believe that offering value was very important. In his free time, Gavin resides in the martial arts studio and plays sports in and out of school. After he graduates, Gavin plans to attend college and join the military. 

I believe in returning the favor to someone or giving them the pencil back that was borrowed. I believe that giving value is a remarkable gift to others—the feeling of being recognized by another. When I give someone value, I give them the attention and care that they need to feel heard and seen. Sometimes that means just saying good morning or how are you to someone during the day and it could change their whole day for the better. I believe that giving value can be so much more than doing a big job for someone it could mean I just sit with them. Letting them cry on my shoulder and just let their feeling go so they feel comforted and safe.

I’ve always been a giving individual, and I surmise that it’s buried in my belief that giving value to others is a remarkable gift. Whether that means you listen to another for seconds, minutes, or even hours or wave to them whenever you see them if only for a moment a connection is shared. I remember when this connection first occurred… It was the summer of 2020 when COVID-19 first impacted everyone’s lives, and no one could leave home. I was sitting outside enjoying the windy summer breeze as it blew across my face and past me picking up leaves as it passed. The summer heat beating down as I sit on the sidewalk watching the clouds move and morph into creatures of all kinds. I sat there alone, and it felt as if no one could ever understand what I saw until a friend came and sat with me experiencing the world as I was instead of being as indifferent as others. The feeling of gratitude that I experienced was like no other, the feeling of getting someone’s care was amazing.

The feeling of making someone’s day so much better does not always have to come from some grand gesture or some big surprise. It could be the little things that are done for someone like a get home safe or a be careful. Not all the time is giving value to someone a part of something big, it is all the little things that add up over time. Sure, occasionally a bigger gesture like helping someone buy a car or helping them get the job they’ve wanted can be done to show a person you care. Yet, it is the little moments in life like asking how their day was or just being there for someone when they need it the most. Giving up the last spot on the train or lending someone a helping hand in whatever they need is truly the meaning of giving value to another.

Giving value can come in so many ways not just in big ways but in small ways too. Even giving value to a misanthrope could cheer up their day. The truth about giving value is that it doesn’t always have to come in the form of a gift, it could come in the form of care, love, or small gestures.