By MEREDITH RODRIGUEZ
Assistant Living Editor
Perched atop a Malibu hill, it becomes easy for students to forget that few in the world share equal opportunity. Junior Kyle Gardner is not one such student. A self-described deep thinker from Chicago, which he pointed out is the fourth most segregated city in the world, Gardner is passionate about reaching out to all categories of people. As he walks from where he works as BSU liaison in the Intercultural Office, it would not be uncommon to catch Gardner chatting with a cafeteria worker or sharing a passing “hello” with a stranger. Gardener ideally plans to use his knowledge as a finance major to help lower-income kids save money for college. Securing happiness and helping people — that’s Gardner’s definition of success.
What do you like to do, Kyle?
I like exploring different cultures, traveling when I can and branching out. That’s a big part of me.
That’s great.
Yeah, but it’s not just different cultures. It’s also people who are kinda strange. I am just naturally drawn to them. I’m like, “Wow, why are they like this?” I like to think a lot. I like to think intensely about a lot of things.
Like what kinds of things?
There’s this line in this song that I was thinking about yesterday. It goes, “How quickly we forget that this is meaningless.” It’s a Christian song.
What does that mean to you?
Life is almost like a dream of our soul. We are living this dream. We have our ups and downs, but in the end it’s temporary. We always forget that. We focus on little small problems that seem bigger, and we multiply them. We exponentialize them in our heads, but really … it’s such a small part of life.
And what does the realization of that lead you to do?
I try to focus on the positive side of life. I try to focus on things like forgiveness and stuff like that, giving people second chances. And then ultimately you will be a happy person that helps others, and I think that’s deep.
So is that your definition of
success?
I think so. There’s a lot of different elements. For me I just want to grow up and be happy. I want to have a good job and stuff like that, but I want to work in a company that very directly helps people.
How are you going to achieve that with your finance major?
I guess my dream job would be investing money in kids when they’re young so that they can go to college when they’re 18.
What made you become the kind of person who wants to include all people?
I think my parents. While most parents took their kids to a local restaurant, mine always took us to ethnic places. My dad took me to this Somalian restaurant when I was a kid. Plus, we are a lot of different things, our family ethnicity. My aunt, she is a Native American minister for the Cherokee nation.
Do you talk with all the people who work here at Pepperdine?
Yeah even the dudes that garden, I always say “hi” to them and stuff because they do so much for us. They get here at seven. They probably get up at like 5 or 5:30. I just want to make sure I acknowledge them, just a little thank you.
What’s another interesting thing about you?
I was born in a hallway. My mom, she was in labor and all that jazz. They had her in the hallway at the hospital. She told doctors, “I think he’s coming.” But the doctor was like, “Oh no, it’s OK. I’ll be right back.” And then 10 minutes later I just popped out.
Does that event paint a picture of your character at all?
Yeah it does in the sense that I was born three-and-a-half weeks late. I think I’m uncomfortable in new situations. I am very timid at first. Freshman year I was very sad and very quiet. Pepperdine was so new to me, and being away from my family was really hard. I do not like changes, but once I’m ready I just pop out. Now that I’m a junior, I have been reaching out a lot and getting involved.
You’ve got a hat on your head with Africa and a heart on it.
It’s from the taping of “Invisible Children.” I don’t like trucker hats. I think they’re stupid and trendy, but I’ll wear it if it has Africa and a heart on it.
02-16-2006
