Lauren Ford was first introduced to “Character Counts!” in elementary school. As a young girl, she did not imagine that one day she would have the opportunity to spread the word about the program as Miss ULM 2015.

Ford, a pharmacy student, used her platform to speak to younger children about the importance of strong character and positivity, which are just a couple things she believes are most important in a young individual’s life.

Now Ford plans to bring her platform to campus and expects that the lessons that come along with “Character Counts!” can still make an impact on older students’ lives.

“I saw that it was something important and made a difference in my life. It was something I wanted to share with other students,” Ford said.

She has spent the majority of her life practicing the values of “Character Counts!” and hopes to spread the positivity to her fellow students.

Ford said adults in college understand what character is, but her goal is to help provide ways in which her fellow students can apply it to his or her daily lives.

For “Character Counts! Week,” Ford took part in random acts of kindness in hopes to inspire students to start doing kind things for each other and start a chain reaction of positivity.

“Character Counts!” was founded in 1992 by a group of educators and youth-service professionals attending the Josephson Institute of Ethics.

“Character Counts” consists of 850 member organizations with thousands of affiliated schools across the country.

Kali Gaar, freshmen education major, supports the movement.

“People should be nicer,” Gaar said.