I'm not sure how many people follow Humans of New York's photo blog, but this week there has been nothing short of inspiration on it.
By chance, Brandon Stanton, the creator of the blog, met a young boy named Vidal in the Brownsville neighborhood of New York City. When asked who the most influential person in his life is, Vidal responded that his principal Ms. Lopez was the most influential person in his life and this is why:
When we get in trouble, she doesn't suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.
Wow. Just wow. And if that's not enough to make you feel good, Mr. Stanton then visited Vidal's school to meet Ms. Lopez which led to him doing a profile on Mott Hall Bridges Academy and eventually launching a fundraiser to send the scholars of the academy to visit Harvard. As of this posting, that fundraiser is $12,000 away from raising $1,000,000 which will be used to fund the trip and summer programs for the next decade of students, and a scholarship fund created in Vidal's name with Vidal himself being the first recipient.
Faith in humanity restored.
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