Even though it was, something was directing everyone’s attention away from the warmth and comfort of their next class.

Near the side of the street on the crosswalk lay a clearly distressed girl. It was obvious that she had slid on the icy pavement and had fallen. However, the fact that she was clutching her leg magnified the gravity of the situation.

When I arrived at the street corner, two guys from the crowd already had grabbed hold of her arms and were dragging her away from oncoming traffic.

The girl was telling the boys she thought she had broken her leg, and they instructed her to keep it stable and not to move it too much. It was clear that she was in excruciating pain.

Despite the boys’ advice, she continued to try to move her leg into a more comfortable position, only making the situation worse.

“Is someone calling 911?” yelled one of the guys.

“Yes, she’s already on the phone,” a girl from the crowd answered, as someone else called the police and told them of the incident.

When the next “Go” started flashing on the walk sign, I decided standing around when there were people already handling the situation was not going to help the situation. If the crowd got too large, it would become an obstacle for the paramedics that would arrive shortly after my class started, so there was no point of me to stay and take up space.

The entire situation was tragic and my wishes go out to the girl.

I felt a great sense of pride that other MSU students were so promptly assisting the girl in her time of need. In a scenario where every second counts, it was amazing to see people immediately responding without second-guessing themselves.

It showed that even as total strangers to one another, they still cared about each other’s well being.
However, the people that were walking away seemed to slowly isolate themselves again. Why is it that students do not outwardly show they care about each other on a daily basis?

Yes, most students open doors for the person behind them. But why is it that during a bus ride, students sometimes go out of their way and stand, if it means they do not sit next to a stranger.
This same pattern also occurs in cafeterias. It could be jam-packed in the Vista at Shaw Hall, but people still pass by open seats to find an empty table.

This year, I’ve only had one complete stranger walk up to my table, sit down, say “Hi,” and start what would soon become a wonderful conversation. I feel that for most, there is an irrational fear of the unknown, even when it comes to interacting with students who live on campus and might be in your classes.

We need to stop isolating ourselves and start being friendly to one another on a regular basis — not just when we see someone injured on the sidewalk.

We should take advantage of moments when we’re surrounded by students in class and get to know one another. After all, there’s a reason we all live near campus and sit in a classroom together instead of just taking all of our classes online and living at home.

Friendliness should be something that is shared with everyone, not something that is broken out of the glass in the case of an emergency.

Henry Pan is a chemical engineering sophomore. Reach him at panhenry@msu.edu.