Keeping promises and honoring commitments are measured as values of worth. Family, friends, and businesses use these to determine an individual’s trustworthiness.

To prove the importance of keeping your word, Superintendent Andrew Kim invited students from Spring Branch and Smithson Valley middle schools along with a select few freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes to listen to a keynote speech by guest speaker Alex Sheen, the founder of “Because I said I would” Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Because I said I would is a nonprofit social movement that began with Alex Sheen emphasizing the power of a promise and honoring his recently passed father with a project on Facebook to ship ten little cards that read “because I said I would.” in the bottom right hand corner to anyone who asked for them anywhere in the world, free of charge. This movement quickly went viral and Sheen began spending thousands of dollars of his paycheck to send hundreds of these “promise cards.”

“What you do is you write a promise on the card, (and) think of one thing you’ve been putting off,” Sheen said. “You give it to someone and say “I’m gonna fulfill this promise and when I do I’ll get this card back. I’m gonna earn it back.” You keep it as a reminder you are a person of your word.”

According to the movement’s website, Because I said I would has sent over 8.42 million promise cards to 153 countries. In addition to mailing the promise cards and bringing a new attention to keeping your word, the nonprofit volunteers and fundraisers for other events and organizations.

“I want to remember my father by the way he lived,” Sheen said. “By the promises he made to me his son… Too often in life we say things like I’ll get to it, or tomorrow. Well one day there won’t be a tomorrow.”

Students felt moved by the presentation as Sheen told his own journey of keeping promises and shared the stories behind others’ promise cards.

“What you do or say can affect people and you may not even realize it,” junior Hunter Johnson said. “I just think his speech was overall really good at getting us to understand how much a promise can mean to someone.”

Each student who attended the presentation received ten promise cards and a “because i said i would” wristband to keep the message further implanted in their minds.

“It truly surprised me in a way I didn’t think a school presentation could,” junior Liam Weeks said. “It genuinely inspired change in the school, and I still wear the bracelet everyday.”