GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — They say it only takes one act of kindness to change a person’s life.
And that couldn’t be more true for one Greensboro man. He credits his former school resource officer for helping him achieve his dreams.
When Ty’Kei Spinks and Officer Aaron Griffiths first met, they never thought that 15 years later, they’d have this relationship.
“I didn’t imagine that we would be … great friends, lifelong best friends,” Spinks said.
The two became friends when Spinks was a sophomore at Page High School, and Griffiths worked there as his resource officer.
“I actually didn’t know him,” Spinks said. “My friends knew him, and they used to get snacks from his office because they had all the good snacks.”
Spinks walked into Griffith’s office one day and left with a lot more than a snack.
“He took me under his wing,” Spinks said. “I felt comfortable asking him for stuff like … ‘Do you know a way I can make some money?’ Or trying to learn how to drive. I remember college applications. I was like, ‘We’re filling out college applications, but I don’t got the money.'”
Griffiths gave Spinks $200 to apply to colleges, bought him a laptop and helped him move into his dorm at UNC-Charlotte where he earned two degrees.
“I would say that he’s one of the greatest people I ever met,” Spinks said. “One of the biggest blessings.”
Now, Spinks, 30, is taking the blessings Griffiths gave him and giving back to others, working as a mental health counselor in Charlotte. He said Griffiths inspired him to become the man he is today, but Griffiths doesn’t take the credit.
“Ty’Kei is a very good person, and he was going to be a good person growing up,” Griffiths said. “That’s just his character. I just helped him a little bit here and there. I think I get more out of our relationship than he does.”
It’s an unlikely friendship, which these two believe will last a lifetime.
“I think we’re both proud of each other,” Spinks said. “We both don’t know how much we get from a relationship, but we both know it’s catastrophic, and the beautiful thing about it is, it’s going to keep going.”
