This teen’s anonymous Instagram account will melt your heart
For the past year, students at East Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Washington have been receiving daily, personalized compliments and encouragement from an anonymous Instagram account called @TheBenevolentOne3. The account began reposting students’ selfies with incredibly thoughtful captions, and eventually made its way through the yearbook, sending individual shoutouts to virtually all the members of the classes of 2014, 2015, and 2016 over the course of 658 posts.
@TheBenevolentOne3 clearly paid attention to the students at East Valley High because each message that was published next to a picture points out specific characteristics that makes that person beautiful and unique: one girl is recognized for her horse-riding abilities, one guy applauded for working hard on his car. The account became a community that includes everyone, which unfortunately can be kind of hard to find in high school. All of the posts are topped off with a dash of pep talk, and it’s pretty hard to read them and not immediately want to go hug someone.
Check out just a few of the awesome posts:
At graduation last week, the Class of 2015 valedictorian, Konner Suave, confessed to running the anonymous Instagram account. ABC News reports that the teen received a standing ovation, leaving even his principal, Dottie Shay, close to tears.
Suave shared that he saw a change in his high school over the past year in one last post on @TheBenevolentOne3. “It seemed that we were more united than we had been in the past,” says the final caption. In the post, he also challenges the class of 2017 to continue his do-gooding and, “find bolder ways to express positivity and encouragement in the East Valley Community.”
Thanks to this awesome teen, maybe we can all take on that challenge.
