The so-called “Wall of Empowerment” in several of the girls’ bathrooms at GLHS offer encouragement in a world where girls are constantly bringing each other down. In the last stall of the bathroom by the foreign language hall, there is a wall covered in what some would call vandalism. On this wall, girls have written their own words of encouragement to those who need it. While it may seem silly, these messages have actually helped girls through tough days. 

“It’s actually really inspiring,” sophomore Darysse Ornevil said. “It’s my first year here, when I saw it I was like wow, these kids are so positive and helping girls be the best they can be.”

“I think it’s really cool. Usually bathrooms, …especially in high school, can have a lot of bullying factors. But this is to bring people up. Other schools should have it,” sophomore Keely Heusinkveld said.

The wall has been painted over multiple times due to it being considered vandalism. Some teachers don’t understand that the wall is actually helping girls, and instead think it’s harmful and needs to be removed. But students don’t see it the same way.

“…Negative people may consider it vandalism, but it’s a positive thing. Girls are writing some amazing things, which helps others throughout their day,” Ornevil said. 

Sophomore Grace McNeil disagrees. McNeil thinks that the wall is vandalism, but that doesn’t mean she thinks it is harmful.

“The school didn’t say people could do it, but I don’t think it’s bad vandalism,” McNeil said.

It seems that most girls agree with McNeil on the wall being vandalism, but also like McNeil they don’t think that it is harmful.

 “If we don’t have permission to do it, it is vandalism, but the school should look at it as a good thing,” Heusinkveld said. “It was funny seeing them try to scrape it off, since we just began to add more and more…[They were] kind of wasting time trying to get rid of it.”

The wall started out as something so small that the girls who started it never expected it to catch on. Even when it did start to catch on they didn’t think it would become as big as it is now.

 “Last year I was one of the first people to write on it.” McNeil said. “I wrote ‘have a good day everyone.’I thought it was cool when it caught on, especially when people started posting about it,” she continued.

McNeil was not the only girl to add to the wall. “I added to it once or twice but it got scraped off,” Heusinkveld said. “I was excited when it caught on. It’s such a good thing we are all doing for each other.”

According to many girls at GLHS, the wall makes so many girls feel better about themselves. In today’s society, girls are expected to bring each other down, but most agreed that it is important for girls to stick together and bring each other up. The rest of society already brings us down enough, and they state that we do not need to add to it.

One overwhelming sentiment from the girls who were interviewed was that the wall may technically be vandalism, but it should be allowed to stay. This wall inspires girls to push through hard times and shows them that there are good people out there who care about how they feel and is an important thing to have in our school.