Students at the James E. Bazzell Middle School and the Allen County-Scottsville High School were challenged to make and keep promises to family, friends, classmates, and one’s own self by the founder of the non-profit organization, because I said I would.
“Because I said I would is a social movement and a nonprofit organization dedicated to the betterment of humanity through promises made and kept,” explained founder Alex Sheen. “That’s how I believe this world is made better when each and every one of us, on our shoulders and our backs, takes the burden of a promise to improve ourselves, our families, our communities, and this country. It’s a belief in the power of a single individual and the accountability we should hold ourselves to (in order) to shape this world into something better.”
Sheen shared with the students the motivation behind the founding of the movement---the death of his father from cancer and his remembrance of the way his father lived his life.
“My father was a man of his word to me and my brother,” Sheen explained. “When he said he was going to be there, he showed up. He kept his promises and it turns out that there are not too many people in life that are like that.”
Following the death of his father, Sheen explained how his thoughts kept coming back to the importance of a promise.
“To often in this life people say things like, I’ll get to it tomorrow but the truth is one day, there is no tomorrow,” Sheen said. “The promises that we make and we keep and those we choose to dishonor, that is what defines us and our character. It always has been and always will be.”
Sheen delivered his father’s eulogy---entitled because I said I would---and handed out a promise card at that time.
Soon after, Sheen offered through a post on social media 10 promise cards free to anyone in the world who simply requested them. His action went viral and launched a worldwide demand for the small cards which simply contain five words, because I said I would, written at the bottom. Since mailing the first promise cards just over four years ago, over 4.47 million promise cards have been distributed to people and organizations in more than 153 countries around the world.
“It’s very simple to use,” Sheen added. “You make a promise. Maybe it’s something small or maybe it’s something so deep that it defines part of the purpose for being on this earth. You write that promise on the card, go to the person you are making that commitment to, and you tell them that I am going to fulfill this promise and when I do, I earn this card back. This card is a symbol of my honor and commitment. It is my property and I’m coming back for it. You then go and fulfill your promise and then you go back to that person. You have earned your card back and then you keep the card as a reminder that you are a person of your word.”
Sheen shared stories of how the movement had touched lives around the United States. The stories included promises of simple things to promises that were heartbreaking, life-changing, or potentially life-saving. Sheen’s examples included a promise from a dying father to continue a five-year ritual of writing daily napkin-notes to his daughter---a promise that required the father to pre-write over 800 notes in the case that he succumbed to his cancer prior to his daughter’s high school graduation. High school students also learned how a promise card could be used to commit to someone a promise not to drink and drive.
The speaker also pointed out that the movement was leading people to not only make promises to others but also to themselves as well in order to benefit others.
“As these promise cards were spread around the world, they weren’t away used as I described to you,” Sheen told students. “One woman used the card as a personal reminder. She wrote a promise to herself not to text or Facebook while driving. She didn’t give that card to someone but she put it in the console of her car. Every time she got in she would take that card and put it on her phone reminding her to care about the safety of a stranger more than a text that can wait.”
The stories also included how Sheen’s “all in” commitment led to him walking away from a six-figure yearly income to devote his entire life to making and keeping personal promises and making a difference in the lives of others.
Sheen used a personal story---his promise to honor victims of a 10-year kidnapping ordeal in his hometown of Cleveland by walking across Ohio in 10 days---to illustrate to the students the importance of not breaking a promise despite the desire to give up.
“When you want to quit on a promise you have made to yourself or another human being, I’m asking you to ask the same questions I have asked myself,” Sheen said. “Why did I make this promise? Why is this so important to me and those I have made this commitment? I believe that when you have a strong mind, you can be strong. You can put one foot in front of the other and do what you said would be done.”
Following the presentation, the middle and high school students were given 10 promise cards and were challenged to put into practice what they heard by beginning to keep and make promises to one another.
Sheen---who has spoken to over 93,000 students since the program began four years ago---was brought to the middle and high school through the efforts of the Student Council at AC-SH. Student Council members, organizational sponsor Heather Pierce, and school administration heard Sheen speak earlier in the year at a conference. Moved by the message, the Student Council began to organize and sponsor Sheen’s visit.