The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to get caught up in the spin cycle and let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
This week’s Something Good is how the kindness of a stranger can change a life.
Latonya Young, a 43 year-old single mother and Uber driver, had her life changed by a single car ride. After dropping out of school when she was 16 to raise her first child, her dream to become a defense attorney was derailed when she had to drop out of college because of a $700 balance at Georgia State that she couldn’t pay.
When she picked up Kevin Esch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after an Atlanta United game one night, she confided a bit about her life’s story and explained how she kept meaning to pay off the balance but her kids kept needing something.
After that ride, Latonya received a call from Georgia State informing her she could now enroll in classes because her balance had been paid. She was blown away by Kevin’s kindness and knew she had to “do it for him” after he paid off her balance with the school. She was able to register for classes and, maintaining As and Bs, Latonya recently graduated with an associate degree in criminal justice.
Latonya and Kevin kept in touch and he attended her graduation in December. Kevin says that he was blessed to have the opportunity to help Latonya and that she is an inspiration to him.
“There was something about Latonya that just — she resonates with me and we developed an incredible friendship now and I am incredibly proud of what she’s done. I could’ve bought new clothes or I could’ve helped someone out. And what has come back to me has come back a hundredfold and I would do it 1,000 times over,” Kevin told CNN.
Latonya will return to class this month to pursue a bachelor’s degree and complete one more step towards her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Now it’s your turn… tell me something good!
