High school can be a tough time in a student’s life with the stress of grades and the struggle of finding yourself. With a school as big as OHS, everyday someone is bound to have a bad day but by spreading small acts of kindness, Encourage OC plans to make the campus a better place.

Encourage OC is a club that aims to send love to students, teachers and staff with no requirements of its members.

The club got its start from an idea Nicole Santillo, senior and president of Encourage OC, had of spreading positivity.

Last year, when the club was being approved, OHS had an assembly for Rachel’s Challenge, a mission to spread kindness across schools. Administration noticed the similarities between the two and told Santillo to combine the two, forming Encourage OC.

Lara Brown, senior, says the club does little things, like saying “hi” to someone and holding doors for others, because no one knows what anybody in the halls are going through.

Taylor Eddleman, another officer of Encourage OC, says although their goal of doing small acts of kindness is cliché, it truly affects someone’s day.

“Our club is based on the universal truth that everyone deals with pain and we can all come together on that,” Eddleman said.

Encourage OC also has a twitter page run by anonymous individuals with the goal of shining light onto the school by tweeting out positive messages, and sending sweet tweets to anyone who attends OHS.

With their social media catching others attention, the club’s first Club Rush was a huge success, multiplying its member count.

“If every member tells one person, our club doubles and then soon our whole school stands united for something bigger than ourselves,” Santillo said.

Encourage OC started off, last year, with covering the school with positive messages, but Brown said the club has a full year in store with even bigger plans coming.