As a high school senior in Long Beach, Ca., David Sall decided he would come to Tufts and eventually pursue a law degree.
But today, as he strolls around the Tisch Library handing out free snacks to his studying classmates, it is clear that Sall is making his mark and becoming a widely known campus presence for other reasons. Taking a simple approach to public service, Sall has used his faith and life lessons to try to brighten the lives of others in small ways.
Sall, who believes in his Jewish faith but is also a devout follower of Jesus, said he believes that love and relationships are what hold people together and create happy, fulfilled lives.
"I have always done social service by just being there for people," Sall said. "I'm trying to create love; life is about serving and loving the people around you."
Sall's philosophy toward public service is closely tied to his faith. As a leader in the Tufts Christian Fellowship, Sall devotes his time to leading a Monday bible study and weekly worship service.
"The TCF is a community of people trying to follow Jesus and in doing so loving the people around us," Sall said.
This mission, he believes, embodies his personal belief in the importance of creating positive relationships with people. Although his time left on campus is short, Sall still finds room every day for reaching out to others.
"My extracurricular activities are the people in my life," he said.
One of Sall's recent projects is the "Food-Love Campaign," in which he purchases baked goods and hands them out to other students.
"People seem to really appreciate it," Sall said. "I had multiple people tell me it was exactly what they needed for their day, and that is exactly what I was going for. My goal was to establish a relationship, however short it may be, to share some love with whomever happened to be passing by."
After several successful Food-Love Campaigns on his own, the TCF is looking to adopt the idea.
"Look for them to be in the library, passing out treats," Sall said.
The Food-Love events will help raise the TCF's profile on campus. The hope is to spread positive vibes throughout the student body.
In addition to his own service work and his presence on the TCF, Sall finds time to be a campus tour guide, an orientation leader and was formerly involved with student government prior to going abroad to Madrid his junior year.
Next year, Sall will move to California, where he plans to work for a year before pursuing his Ph.D in psychology. The graduate work, he believes, will give him the skills to take his message to a larger audience.
Sall also said he hopes to further his studies of interfaith relationships and identify opportunities to build bridges between different religious communities.
"There is a lot of growth and communication that needs to start happening between Christians and Jews," Sall said. "Having my unique experience in both worlds I have found that there is really no comfortable place at Tufts for me. That there is a lack of overlap and I think that is something that needs to be addressed in the world at large."
On advice to students, he offers a simple way to spread his positive outlook on life.
"A smile is the easiest way; it will make someone's day and can encourage them to spread their own love," he said.
Crucial to his mentality is the idea that it often it takes very little to make a big difference to one person. "There are countless fast, easy and free ways to completely turn around a person's day," Sall said. "When I talk to students, I encourage them to share just a brief moment of their time to help others with a smile, a nice gesture or just a compliment."
Sall also has ideas about active citizenship in regards to Tufts' efforts to educate global leaders.
"Sometimes, Tufts can be so good at conceptualizing global service outside of Tufts that we can forget about serving ourselves," he said.
To balance the University's global perspective, he has tried to make his service personal.
"I see a real need for people to be served on this campus," Sall said. "We all need love."
