Two sophomores at Seminole High School have made it their mission to spread acceptance and kindness in Seminole. Mollie Brengman recently founded Seminole’s Love Your Faults Club, named after the popular Instagram page  @loveyourfaults, run with fellow student Drew Weiss. Both hope that the club will blossom into a safe space for all students.

“Love Your Faults is a place where we want to create a positive environment and spread love through knowledge and action,” said Weiss.

Brengman’s passion stems from her personal experiences of being bullied during her childhood. She says that people would make fun of her confidence and talkativeness, and these experiences inspired her to create an encouraging environment for all students in need of a safe haven.

“I didn’t have a safe place to go, so my experiences made me think that if people are dealing with this they should have somewhere to go,” Brengman said.

Many students who are members enjoy the uplifting environment provided by the club.

“I joined Love Your Faults because I feel as if it is important to have a safe place that fosters acceptance for all people,” said sophomore Elizabeth Agranovsky. “Love Your Faults provides an outlet for my stress and lets me be involved in something that I find important.”

The club’s Instagram account has been running for close to a year, and it has over 1700 followers from all over the world. Weiss hopes that the account, which spreads messages about feminism, social justice, and other issues, will open people’s minds. In addition, his posts foster positivity through  daily reminders to his followers to take care of and love themselves.

“Sometimes people will send [the account] messages that thank us for posting what we post, and that it keeps them motivated,” said Weiss. “That’s pretty inspirational for me.”

However, the controversial nature of the account also garners significant negative attention, both on the Internet and in real life. The club founders hope to educate people in a non-invasive way about issues that affect their fellow students in order to combat some of this hatred and misunderstanding.

“We don’t want to change people’s opinions because that’s not our job,” said Brengman.  “We just want people to be able to express themselves because there is hate in the world and we don’t want people to be scared.”

Love Your Faults also hopes to contribute to the community with various service projects. They plan to assist the local homeless by collecting supplies to distribute to shelters and soup kitchens. They also plan to attend pride festivals and other similar events. However, their ultimate purpose is to help students embrace themselves, imperfections and all. Sponsor Paula Black feels that this message can benefit many students.

“I think the club is important because teenage years are often difficult and having a group that students can join for support can be helpful,” said Black. “Hopefully, the students who become a part of the club will be uplifted, feel supported [and] safe, and transfer the values of the club to their daily interactions with peers.”

Students interested in joining Love Your Faults can attend meetings on Tuesdays from 2:20-3:30 in Ms. Black’s room HA-216.

“High school is a pretty intimidating place,” said Weiss. “It’s a lot about finding out who you are, educating people, [and] creating a positive environment outside of the classroom.”