There’s a wide variety of friendly folks at St. Bonaventure, from deans that oversee our education, to security guards that keep us out of harm’s way, to janitors that keep our campus clean. Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of college life, it’s easy to forget the people we encounter each day. One of those sunny individuals that serves students is Moki Pyame of the Reilly Center post office.
Not only is Pyame responsible for students receiving letters and packages, but she does so with a smile.
“The students, I just love them because this is our next generation of America,” Pyame said. “To me, it’s like the more I can help them feel comfortable in what they’re doing, the better off the world is going to start looking.”
Pyame also relates to students in a positive way, having been in an unfamiliar environment herself a number of times.
“I’ve lived all over the United States. I traveled a lot after coming out of high school and didn’t go back to college until later. I know what it’s like to walk into a place and know nobody. Or you’ve got a new job, or you’re in school, or whatever,” Pyame said. “I was lucky enough to, in all of the places I went, find people who would come up to me and just smile and say ‘hi.’”
Pyame’s dedication to comforting and welcoming students is something everyone can learn from. At times, it’s easy to forget how far a positive attitude can go. Pyame calls this kindness ‘paying it forward.’
“Everybody helps everybody, and what goes around comes around. Believe me, it does, over and over again. It amazes me how people tell me about somebody helping somebody helped a friend of theirs, and next thing you know, that friend is there for them. It goes around,” Pyame said.
Although this ‘pay it forward’ effort seems subtle, it does not go unnoticed. Paige O’Brien, a freshman political science major, is one of the students who has noted Pyame’s kind demeanor.
“Moki is the sweetest. She’s always so nice to me when I see her, and she seems like she’s on top of her work in the post office. She always makes everyone’s day better,” O’Brien said.
Another student, Trevor North, a junior political science major, appreciates her friendly attitude.
“She’s always smiling when I come to the post office. I’ve never seen her have a bad day,” North said.
Another aspect of Pyame’s kindness comes from a love for fellow Bonnies and the diversity seen on campus each day.
“It’s such a diverse campus, which makes it wonderful. We have to learn about associating with other people and other walks of life,” Pyame said. “I’ve lived in a lot of the bigger cities, L.A. in California, Baltimore in Maryland. Places where it’s truly the Mason-Dixon line where we get all the people coming in from the ships, from the south and north, the west, all combined. It was truly, at least to me as a woman, like a sisterhood.”
All in all, a friendly smile and kind words go a long way in the everyday stresses of college life. Pyame’s kindness is something to be appreciated and learned from. Something as small as a smile can brighten a bad day and comfort the worried.
By Anastasia Smith, Staff Writer
smithan18@bonaventure.edu
