AHS Compliments Takes Newsfeeds By Storm

“I wanted people to realize just how awesome they are.”

Students are getting little bursts of self-esteem via AHS Compliments, a new page on Facebook. Started by an anonymous senior in December, this page now has over 600 “likes.”

Students can message the page administrator, then they post the comment so that no one can tell who it is from.

“My goal was to kind of bring everyone together and create more of a positive community in Albemarle,” the admin explained.

Originally AHS Compliments was a Twitter feed, but it was abandoned and the current admin created the Facebook page.

When the page began, the admin posted ten to 15 compliments a day, but since it has slowed down a bit, there has been about three or four a day,

“It used to be consuming at least an hour every day [to read through and post compliments], but since it slowed down, it’s usually only about half an hour, which is a lot more manageable,” the admin said.

The page administrator has chosen to remain anonymous because, “I don’t really want the focus to be me, I want the focus to be the community.”

While a few people have figured out the identity of the admin, “I think the majority of people do not know, which is what I’m aiming for.

Students from all grade levels as well as teachers have been surprised to find that someone complimented them.

“It made me feel really good [to be complimented on the page],” sophomore Jake Manickam said. “I later found out who it was, and it was one of my bestest friends. I was having a really crappy day that day, but when I saw that compliment, it made me have an extra pep in my step.”

Compliments have ranged from positive remarks about physical appearance to talents to general raves.

Senior Victoria Stagnero described the excitement of receiving an anonymous compliment. “Oh! I don’t know who it is, but thanks stranger! It was cute.”

“I complimented two people. One of them was my best friend, and she found out it was me, but the other person didn’t find out it was me,” Manickam said.

The admin will be managing the page until graduation in May, then plans to pass down the page to another interested student.

“I want to make sure that every voice is heard.”