The following post was written by Sarah P. in response to the Day 13 Challenge Action: High-Five a random person in the hallway.
Today’s challenge was to high-five a random person in the hallway. The theory behind the action it is that it will help us to initiate a connection with another student and possibly make someone's day a little brighter.
What this challenge did for me, personally, is to make me more aware of other students passing by me in between classes. Usually I just walk to my next class as quickly as possible, without really paying attention to others. On this day, I looked around, and as I was looking for a potential high-five recipient, I noticed how hard it was. I expected to just walk down every hall with my hand out, high-fiving everyone. But, it wasn't as easy as that. Hallways are chaotic; kids don't stay in their lane. It was difficult to walk up to someone moving past me and give them a high five.
Another obstacle to the challenge I found particularly difficult is that most people are looking down at their phones while they walk during passing periods; they are blocking out the world. Students aren't taking even these small opportunities in between classes to look around, to see who is in our school community. Making connections with people is hard when they are staring down at their phones, basically signaling others to stay away.
Something more personal that I discovered about myself from trying this challenge action is how anxious I get in even simple social interactions. Whenever I saw a person who I could high-five, I got too nervous and missed the chance. I did manage to high-five a few people, but they were people I knew so I felt more comfortable interacting with them.
Though high-fiving a stranger who isn't expecting it isn't really your standard social interaction, it still serves as a reminder that we would all benefit from more opportunities to interact with each other. It would help people to become more comfortable with others, and to be more open to putting themselves out there. This challenge was a nice way to encourage people in our school community to engage with each other more.