Being in high school is not the easiest time. There is a lot to think about all the time, and your self confidence isn't always at its best. One teen has decided to try to make high school a little less awful by creating a lovely little place where girls can feel good about themselves.
At the Laguna Hills High School in Southern California, 17-year-old Astle has done something very sweet in an attempt to spread positivity. She has posted more than 30 positive messages all over the bathroom with affirmations like "You are beautiful" and "You are doing better than you think."
A lot of girls escape to the bathroom to take a moment away from all the crowds, so by putting these posters up she hopes that it will brighten the girls' moods.
"It just reminds everyone that they are important and special in their own way, and that they shouldn't feel like they are less than anyone because of what they see as a flaw," Astle told Today.
Astle started a "Kindness Club" at the school to try to spread her positive thinking to other students.
"It was meant to brighten our students' days and remind them that they are enough," said Chelsea Maxwell, the school's activity director. "They face so much pressure, academically to perform, athletics... It can at times be overwhelming for students."
The photos went viral after a student's mother saw them in the washroom. Shannen McKinney said that "I walked into the girls bathroom at a local high school over the weekend and was so amazed and overjoyed at what I saw. No mirrors just affirmations! I was overwhelmed when I first saw the messages, there were so many all over every stall way more than I took pictures of. The messages were especially moving for me in that moment as I was having a bit of self-doubt that day. They were exactly what I needed to lift my spirits I had to hold back tears I was so moved by them."
Astle just wants to make people happy. She has noticed a lot of people saying they love the school because they allow things like this to happen, so she really feels like it's all worth it.