{"id":4480,"date":"2016-10-27T09:49:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=4480"},"modified":"2025-08-16T17:51:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T21:51:26","slug":"the-speed-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2016\/10\/27\/the-speed-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Speed of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sometimes it\u2019s easy to forget how a simple act of kindness can change lives.\u00a0 When times are tough, it can be hard to stay positive.\u00a0 But on Tuesday, September 13, UMPI welcomed someone who is changing lives one hug and high five at a time.\u00a0 David Sylvester, cyclist, filmmaker and author, visited with students and faculty.\u00a0 He gave a talk in the Campus Center that night.\u00a0 His goal was to share his positive message and give hugs and high fives to everyone he met.<\/p>\n

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UMPI is just one of the many places Sylvester has gone to on his \u201cHugs and High Fives\u201d tour.\u00a0 During a tour, he usually travels by bike.\u00a0 He stops at different towns and cities, volunteers for charities and nonprofits and talks to people.\u00a0 Sylvester has visited 35 states and 22 countries.\u00a0 His trips have brought him across the U.S. and to Africa, Asia and Australia.\u00a0 So why hugs and high fives?\u00a0 Why travel around the world?\u00a0 Those are questions that Sylvester answered while sharing his story at UMPI.<\/p>\n

While growing up, Sylvester\u2019s closest friends were twin brothers Kevin and Kelvin Bowser.\u00a0 They were 10 years older than Sylvester.\u00a0 But he idolized them.\u00a0 Then on September 11, 2001, the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City happened.\u00a0 Kevin Bowser worked at the World Trade Center.\u00a0 One of the hijacked planes hit the floor that he worked on.<\/p>\n

Struggling with his grief, Sylvester asked himself \u201cDo I do something or do I do nothing?\u201d\u00a0 He ended up cycling across the U.S. in 2002.\u00a0 He raised money for a charity in Kevin Bowser\u2019s name.\u00a0 Sylvester\u2019s plan for after the trip was to return to his everyday life.\u00a0 But then a newspaper reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a story about his trip.\u00a0 People from around the world started calling and emailing Sylvester.\u00a0 They all said that his story inspired them.\u00a0 One person started working at a community garden.\u00a0 Another decided to finally fill out their graduate school application.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to inspire people to do a lot of things, so I felt humbled,\u201d Sylvester said.\u00a0 \u201cI felt a part of something and I wanted to be a part of something more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvester wanted his next trip to be \u201cbigger than his fears.\u201d\u00a0 So he biked across Africa as part of a bicycle race.\u00a0 After that trip, he planned to bike across South America.\u00a0 But then Sylvester was involved in a bad car accident.\u00a0 A drunk driver crashed into Sylvester\u2019s car.\u00a0 A 2 inch knob from Sylvester\u2019s car got stuck in his knee.<\/p>\n

Doctors told Sylvester he wouldn\u2019t be able to walk again.\u00a0 For a while he felt hopeless.\u00a0 But while Sylvester tried to recover, people he had met during bike trips sent him gifts and good luck charms.\u00a0 Later on, Sylvester learned to walk again, though he still has a hitch in his step.\u00a0 Having peoples\u2019 support had given him the strength to try harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so fortunate to have people rush to my aid.\u00a0 I wanted to walk again for them more than I wanted to for myself,\u201d Sylvester said.<\/p>\n

After he recovered, Sylvester taped pictures of people that he\u2019d met all over his bike.\u00a0 There were 122 pictures.\u00a0 He rode that bike on his next cycling trip through Asia.\u00a0 But that journey was different than past trips.\u00a0 Sylvester was not just cycling for himself.\u00a0 He cycled for the 122 people that were on his bike.\u00a0 All those people inspired Sylvester to keep pedaling both on his bike and in life.\u00a0 It was also the trip that began his tradition of hugs and high fives.<\/p>\n

Sylvester could have easily stopped cycling after such a long, hard trip.\u00a0 Instead, he found a way to make his trips even more meaningful.\u00a0 On his next U.S. trip, Sylvester volunteered at nonprofits in the towns and cities that he stopped in.\u00a0 Since he has spent every trip helping out at places such as domestic violence shelters, cancer treatment centers and animal shelters.\u00a0 Along the way, people have shared their own stories with Sylvester.\u00a0 He wants everyone to know that if they want change to happen they have to trust their instincts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of times people wait for a sign or for someone else to step up,\u201d Sylvester said.\u00a0 \u201cTake the shot.\u00a0 What\u2019s the worst that can happen?\u00a0 You miss?\u00a0 So what?\u00a0 If you take the shot in life and miss, you can learn a lot from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking the \u201cshot\u201d gave Sylvester the chance to write a book about his cycling experiences.\u00a0 He sold and signed copies of that book, \u201cTraveling at the Speed of Life,\u201d after his talk.\u00a0 Many UMPI students attended Sylvester\u2019s talk.\u00a0 Esmeralda Galvan, a psychology major, enjoyed hearing Sylvester\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was very inspiring,\u201d Galvan said.\u00a0 \u201cI like how there was always something he was moving towards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alyssa Edwards, a sophomore athletic training major, said, \u201cHe shows that you should not give up no matter what.\u00a0 The smallest thing could impact a life in a huge way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sylvester only came to UMPI for one day.\u00a0 But his mission to change lives will last much longer. \u00a0Next year he will drive through 48 states in the U.S. for another round of his \u201cHugs and High Fives\u201d tour.\u00a0 Sylvester will partner with many charities.\u00a0 He wants to spread their message of hope to everyone who needs to hear it.\u00a0 He gave his audience at UMPI their own challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo hug three people a day for the next three days.\u00a0 Make sure you emphasize \u2018How are you feeling really?\u2019\u201d Sylvester said.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone in this room could change a life.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are lots of ways to impact peoples\u2019 lives.\u00a0 But often people just need to be themselves and listen to what others have to say.\u00a0 That is what Sylvester does every day.\u00a0 At UMPI, he showed students and faculty that making a difference is easier than they think.\u00a0 Sometimes all it takes is getting on a bike and going somewhere.<\/p>\n

\"davidsylvestertamaratompkinshighfive\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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  Sometimes it\u2019s easy to forget how a simple act of kindness can change lives.\u00a0 When times are tough, it can be hard to stay positive.\u00a0 But on Tuesday, September 13, UMPI welcomed someone who is changing lives one hug and high five at a time.\u00a0 David Sylvester, cyclist, filmmaker and author, visited with students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":4481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8943,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4480\/revisions\/8943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}