What makes you, you? The Humans of Stroudsburg explores this on an individual basis in each one of their posts, exploring the various diverse personalities that live in Stroudsburg.

Senior Lasha Basadzishvili, the founder and owner of Humans of Stroudsburg, started this Facebook page back in February 2015 “to bring everyone closer and make everyone more understanding.” Since then, the page has become one of the best known social media pages throughout the school, for its constant display of unique personalities that are here in the Stroudsburg community.

The idea came from the original, Humans New York page. Humans of New York started on September 4, 2010, Brandon Stanton created the page in order to highlight the uniqueness of individuals in New York City. The page currently has 18 million followers on its Facebook, and another 6.2 million on Instagram.

Humans of New York has inspired countless pages throughout various cities, colleges, and even countries. Through all these various outlets and his countless followers, Mr. Stanton has dedicated the page to non-profit funds, raising money for hurricane relief, ending bonding labor, and raising funds to help a family adopt an orphan child from Ethiopia and pay for his education.

While Humans of Stroudsburg is not quite as large, with 582 followers on Facebook, the impact remains large on the people of Stroudsburg. The posts range anywhere from inspirational, to deep quotes about troubling times. One of the best however according to the assistant of the page senior Kristen Byrne, was one from senior Ethan Cook.

“I may have a disability, and I may face obstacles everyday but that does not change who I am.” – Ethan Cook.

Cook’s post is just one of the many powerful stories shared through the Humans of Stroudsburg movement. One of the most interesting things is how the interviewer gets the subject to open up so much.

The first step is the selection process, which is none. “The main point is it has to be random,” said Basadzishvili. He is not alone in this belief, as both Byrne and Stanton repeated his point.

Following this step comes the interview itself. When Basadzishvili interviews someone, he begins with this rather overwhelming question: “If you were going to describe yourself, what would you say?” When they can not answer right away, he fires away with smaller questions, all the while letting that big question sit, which gives them time to imagine themselves. By the end of the interview he comes back around to that first question, at which point the subject is finally prepared to answer.

The final part of the interview is the photograph, which Basadzishvili forms based on the quote received. Using his camera, he frames the photo in a way to reflect the quote, making it witty or more serious by association.

With both Byrne and Basadzishvili graduating at the end of the year, one cannot help but wonder where the page will go next. We plan to pass it down to two other kids and have them pass it down when they graduate,” said Byrne. “I could even see it growing bigger and turning into a club.”

In true Humans of Stroudsburg style, Basadzishvili provided a quote to go along with his interview.

“Be conscious of the consciousness of the peers around you, since they experience the same consciousness that you do, and feel as though they are the center of the universe just as you do. And although you don’t have to agree with others, you should respect that they have gone through events such as you to become who they are today.”

So when you’re walking in the halls class to class today, remember: behind every face you see, there is a story.

Check out these links below:

Humans of New York

Humans of Stroudsburg