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       #Post#: 101--------------------------------------------------
       Herricks Compliments: Why My Faith in Humanity is Restored (Mehr
       ab Ahsan '13)
       By: SharonShaji Date: December 5, 2012, 11:22 pm
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       After a particularly glum day of school, we are often in need of
       a pick-me-up. Whether it is a warm, venti sized white chocolate
       mocha from Starbucks or just a sob story movie marathon, we all
       try to cope in our own ways, but to what avail? We all know that
       we’ll always wind up texting our friends about how much our
       lives suck. But there’s something so mundane about this process;
       we subconsciously and voraciously expect to receive such
       comforts from our friends. In reality, we are just being
       uplifted by our friends whose specific purpose is to help us
       during on days when we are “feeling under the weather.”
       As a victim of this unfortunately predictable teenage cycle, I
       feel as though sometimes a cup of coffee and hugs from concerned
       friends aren’t enough. I’ve always yearned for something new.
       But that all changed when I received a friend request on
       Facebook from “Herricks Compliments.”
       My initial reaction to this webpage was very doubtful; when
       were people in our school nice enough to actually go out of
       their way to compliment each other? I’ve seen it all:
       Formspring, Tumblr, Ask Fm. Teenagers are always the victims of
       slurs and hate messages on social networking sites, never an
       appreciative comment. But, as I perused the contents of this
       strange profile, I saw people, even my friends, receiving hearty
       compliments from this new friend I had just added.  “Johnny
       White, Bob Smith, and 20 other people liked this post” headed
       each one of these heartfelt posts. It was surreal. Was Herricks
       finally putting its right foot forward? It seemed so.
       After looking into who created this amazing Facebook page, I
       found that this whole system was based upon a system used by
       other colleges. From “Yale Compliments” to “Columbia
       Compliments,” many highly notable schools had already started
       this inspirational page. It tugs at my heartstrings to see our
       school following the footsteps of such renowned establishments.
       The premise of this ingenious idea is as follows: someone
       privately messages Herricks Compliments, and the page (or the
       selfless, unnamed person running the page) will publish it on
       Facebook for everyone to see. This allows anyone sending the
       compliments to remain anonymous and let’s them freely express
       their true thoughts about someone, without those awkward,
       angst-filled sentiments that always seem to run high school
       life.
       But the process doesn’t just end here. This completely
       altruistic page has inspired many to embark on their own quests
       of kindness. I logged onto Facebook just a few hours after
       viewing the first string of posts and was pleasantly surprised.
       The Herricks Compliments created a web craze of kindness. There
       were dozens of people that had “Like My Status for a Compliment”
       posts on their walls. I felt as though all I saw on Facebook
       were compliments to other people. It’s been unbelievable.
       I’ve never smiled cheek to cheek for so long. In just one
       weekend, I feel like it’s been one of the first times when our
       community has gelled together in a way never seen before. For
       the first time, it’s not nasty, stereotypical insults being
       flung at people, but rather, it’s genuine, kind compliments
       lighting up the days of its recipients. Now the only mystery
       left to solve is who the awesome person that made this page is.
       I can guarantee that he/she will be making LOTS of friends when
       we finally find out.
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