'You're awesome': Clarenville Grade 7 student spreads kindness via sticky notes
Olivia Parrott was having a tough time in middle school, but turned things around
Olivia Parrott had been having a rough go at her new school — the Clarenville Middle School student says Grade 7 can be a "little bit tough."
"People weren't being the nicest," she said.
Despite her experience, the 12-year-old decided she wanted to spread some good. So after school one day, Olivia saw a pad of yellow sticky notes in her locker, and was inspired.
"I decided to go around and put inspirational quotes and nice notes on everyone's locker, like, 'You're awesome,' 'Have a great day,' 'I love your hair,' 'You're so pretty,'" she said.
Random act of kindness from a CMS student! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/youregreat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#youregreat</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IThinkYourAwesome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IThinkYourAwesome</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CMSRocks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CMSRocks</a> <a href="https://t.co/9NTJgvMMXC">pic.twitter.com/9NTJgvMMXC</a>
—@CMS_Tigers"I just thought it would be the best thing in the world for people to walk into school and see that first thing in the morning."
Olivia got to school early the next day so she could see the looks on people's faces.
"There was this one guy and he walked in and he just smiled and he was so happy to see that note on his locker."
My mom and dad and my nan, they were just so very proud of me.- Olivia Parrott
Olivia says the other students followed suit. The point, she said, was to make people feel better about themselves, and in turn, that would make her feel better about herself.
"My mom and dad always told me, if you be nice to people it will come back around."
And it has.
"My mom was like way over the moon about it. And my mom and dad and my nan, they were just so very proud of me," she said.
Didn't want recognition
Olivia wanted her act of kindness to be anonymous, but word got out when a friend saw the pad of sticky notes in her locker.
"I didn't expect this to happen, I just wanted to do it to make somebody feel better, not to get noticed."
Olivia says she always went to school with a smile on her face, but now things are getting easier.
"The teachers there are just awesome, and the students. It's a really different environment, but in a very good way."
With files from the St. John's Morning Show