The recent hashtag #20beautifulwomen has been surfacing all over Instagram captions and tweets, especially within the last week. Upon posting her own selfie with a caption about what makes her feel beautiful, the idea is for every girl who participates to “tag” 20 others and keep the challenge going, encouraging girls to share what they love about themselves beyond physical appearance and to empower one another. Similar to the hashtag, here are #20beautifulthings to love about our school:

1. Teachers: We have so many teachers and staff members with love and passion for their jobs and their students. There are very few teachers at this school who don’t genuinely care about their students, not just as students but also as human beings. It is also extremely rare to find a teacher who doesn’t love his or her job and who doesn’t stay long past his or her contract hours bending over backward with a genuine care and respect for us and our futures.
2. Spirit: We might get a little carried away sometimes, but we sure do know how to do spirit week like no one else.
3. Pasta bowls on Fridays: Enough said.
4. The Husky family: It surely isn’t everywhere – especially not in the parking lot – but it is a huge part of what fills our halls with the extra, subtle touch of love. On a really long and horribly stressful Wednesday last year, I was so tired that I was almost falling asleep as I was walking out of school at 4 p.m. I passed a complete stranger who, I’m assuming because he noticed my emotional state, stopped and asked me how I was doing. I’ve yet to find another place on earth where a stranger would have enough love for another stranger to reach out like that. The beauty of that principle still strikes me powerfully a year later.
5. Academic excellence: We have a respectable number of National Merit Finalists each year and a lot of really smart, driven students. Additionally, we have a lot more challenging and AP courses offered than a lot of other high schools. We’re pretty fortunate for a public school.
6. Mr. Smithyman’s obsessive flair pen collection: If you ever find yourself without colorful writing utensils at school, he is your man.
7. Art galleries: There is so much amazing art displayed in the galleries and also on the walls around school, giving us the unique opportunity to express that our school is talented not only academically but also artistically.
8. Talented sports teams: For example, a week ago we had almost 30 students sign to play sports at the collegiate level, and many of our teams are repeat state champions.
9. Diversity within the clubs and activities: If sports aren’t your thing, there are innumerable options for everybody to get involved with something that suits their interests. We have everything from Ping Pong Pals to the Brony Club to the AV club – literally for just about anything you enjoy doing, you can find a group of people at BVNW who enjoy the same thing. I think the fact that there is a club that gets together to watch and discuss movies says enough in itself.
10. Acceptance from others to be your own person and have your own style: There are students who embrace styles from full-out hippie, ‘90s grunge, preppy and all styles in between. We go to a school where it is not only accepted to be different and express yourself through your own style, but it is also weirdly cool to do so.
11. Short commute: We are within minutes from Starbucks, Sonic and McDonald’s, all readily accessible for a quick pick-me-up after a long day or before school on late arrivals.
12. The library: It is extremely handy to have a resource open for free printing (in color, too) and that has access to Macs and PCs for efficient homework and studying purposes. Also, we can’t forget to appreciate the “read” posters which offer entertainment as well as a chance for anyone to become somewhat of a literary celebrity within BVNW.
13. Togetherness during hard times: When our janitor Ronny had cancer, we came together and made shirts with “the man that can” printed on them, coming together as a school to show our love and support. When the JCC tragedy happened, the entire BVNW community came together to help the friends and families of victims get through a terribly hard time.
14. Mr. Ohlde’s coffee handouts: We all complain about going to school so early, but his coffee makes getting through a long, tiring day of tests much easier. Not all heroes wear capes, as they say; some teach history and provide sleep-deprived teens with caffeine.
15. Five percent back on science test corrections: Bless.
16. Mrs. Sula’s seasonal candy: She always places Halloween and winter holiday candy right next to that day’s test or assignment the day before a holiday or holiday break. After our most recent AP Chem test, she gave us Valentine’s Day Blow Pops to have during our test; we appreciate teachers who recognize that we did not grow out of our love for candy after middle school.
17. Mr. Petersen’s sarcasm: First of all, Mr. Petersen helps me with chemistry and he doesn’t even teach it – he is just an amazing teacher in general. Additionally, his sense of humor and his sarcasm makes an otherwise dry subject much more interesting. Let’s appreciate our rad teachers.
18. When Mr. Butcher’s class actually takes first lunch: This is not only a fun school-wide joke, but also a reminder to appreciate your lunchtime if you do get first lunch, unlike Mr. Butcher’s class.
19. Daily emails from Dianne Waldo: Where would we be without a little something reliable to brighten our days? When no one else is there, Dianne always is.
20. Late arrivals: When that 7:45 a.m. start time is starting to really interfere with your vibe, you can always count on Thursdays to be there for you. Whether they serve as an excuse to stay up an hour later on Wednesdays or the opportunity to sleep in an hour in the morning, late arrivals give us the break and refreshment we need to pull through the end of the week. Also, they give you some extra time to stop and get coffee which is always a bonus.