When Brandon Stanton started his book Humans of New York, his goal was to interview and photograph a few of the almost eight and a half million people in New York City. But what Stanton probably did not anticipate was that his project would spur people to start similar movements in their local communities. Senior Janna Jiang began a Humans of Plano West Facebook page for a school project her junior year and has decided to continue the page on her own time.

“I’ve been following Humans of New York for a long time now,” Jiang said. “I would flip through the pictures for hours at a time. It’s amazing to see that these people who you wouldn’t expect to have these amazing stories. I wanted to see if I could do that at Plano West.”

Since the initial creation of the page, Jiang has enlisted three more people to help her.

“I approached Janna about helping her project continue,” senior Jarek Nguyen said.

Nguyen, along with juniors Naina Khan and Fatima Sadiquat, help Jiang conduct casual interviews with students and faculty around the school.

“They were super friendly and asked me normal questions about life,” senior Jessica Schram, who was recently featured on the Humans of Plano West page, said. “I answered them and it got pretty deep.”

During interviews, the facilitators of the page must remember to make their subjects feel comfortable in order to get the best quotes.

“You have to smile a lot,” Jiang said. “It’s easier to approach people who are alone. You have to sound confident but not too confident.”

Jiang and Nguyen agree that they enjoy the page because of the unique opportunity to see new faces and hear new stories.

“Doing this has helped me make new friends that wouldn’t necessarily have been my friends before,” Jiang said.

While Nguyen also enjoys working on the page to get to know new people, he has a bigger picture in mind.

“I wanted to do it because I want to join the Army after I graduate,” Nguyen said. “Seeing people and getting to know their stories helps me remember why I’m going down that path. I remember that’s why I’m doing it. It’s for them.”

Humans of Plano West is a page that is helping eradicate anonymity in a school that houses thousands of people every day. After Jiang graduates, the hope is for her project to persevere.
“Our goal is to continue this page and have it passed down,” Nguyen said.