Weronika Jachimowicz, 17, is getting a lot of attention for subverting people's expectations of who excels in high school. And that's exactly what she wants.

Jachimowicz was named New York's Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District's 2021 salutatorian. Her yearbook photo next to valedictorian Luke Altman is going viral because of her dramatic Goth makeup and attire.

It all started when assistant professor and writer Dr. Jules Lipoff tweeted out a photo of the valedictorian and salutatorian he saw in a newspaper and it went viral. How many salutatorians have you seen that wear pentagram hoop earrings, a choker, and black devil horns?

The juxtaposition of her next to the bowtie-wearing Altman, makes the photo even more amusing.

Jachimowicz wants the world to know that just because a high school kid looks like an outsider, doesn't mean they aren't interested in academics or sports.

In fact, it's completely normal for kids who are interested in the Goth subculture to be good students.

"The scene has quiet middle-class values — education, highbrow culture, theatre, museums, romantic literature, poetry, philosophy, Gothic architecture," Dr. Dunja Bril, who studies Goth culture in England, told The Independent.

"Many Goths like classical music. It's a status symbol to have a good collection of classical pieces — mostly requiems and darker pieces," she added.

"Going to do a university degree is encouraged," Bril continued. "It doesn't encourage people to drop out of school. Whereas in the Punk scene you turn down the normal educational values, in Goth you gain status if you're perceived as being educated. You get people who are in it for the shock value, but they are usually the ones who grow out of it."

Since her photo went viral, Jachimowicz has received countless messages of thanks from young people who say she's inspired them to express themselves.

"In all honesty, that's all I wanted. I wanted to help anyone I could who is struggling with expressing themselves because I've been in the exact same position," Jachimowicz told Yahoo. "When people message me telling me how I have given them the confidence to be who they truly are, I almost cry from happiness."

Jachimowicz says that she was able to be herself because she was encouraged by others, so this is her chance to pay it forward.

"I was always trying to please others and be like what everyone else wanted me to be, or at least try to fit into what was 'normal.' However, I did slowly start to realize that it's OK to be different," she said.

"I've met people in my life who gave me the confidence to fully be myself," she added.

In addition to having an unweighted GPA of 97.27%, Jachimowicz was on the fencing, ping pong, and winter track teams. She was also a member of the National Honor Society, Students Against Drunk Driving, and the Unity Club.

She plans to major in biology/forensics in college.

Jachimowicz's accomplishments are another reason to never judge someone for how they look or their interests. Just because someone is wearing satanic earrings doesn't mean they aren't highly intelligent or athletic.

She believes the most important thing is to be yourself, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

"Even if others don't really like my style, it's what makes me happy and I've worked hard to finally come to that conclusion," she said.

Utah Jazz dancer Danielle Bush got the surprise of her life when her fellow dancers started doing a totally different routine.

It's a dancer's worst nightmare. You're in the middle of a performance you've rehearsed over and over when all of a sudden you forget what you're doing. Everyone else is in sync, and you're hopelessly out of step, trying desperately to not make it obvious that you're completely lost.

That's sort of what happened to Utah Jazz dancer Danielle Bush earlier this week during a basketball half-time performance. Bush didn't forget the routine, though—it just suddenly changed on her in the middle of it. The song, the routine, all of it. To her credit, Bush rallied, smiled and did her best to improvise, but it was clear she was lost. For a torturous 20 seconds, she tried to keep up—and then she figured out what was really going on.

What started out as a nightmare turned into a heartwarming surprise that the rest of her fellow dancers were in on.

How can a video be so painful to watch and yet end up with such a happy ending? The poor girl was so confused until she actually heard what the song had been changed to—Bruno Mars' "Marry You"—and realized it had to have been changed for her.

According to KSL News, the proposal had been planned in secret since earlier in the month. Bush's boyfriend (now fiance) Brandon had asked Jazz Dancers director Ashley Kelson if it were possible to pop the question on the court.

"I wanted to make it big and special for her for sure," Kelson told the outlet. "Making it a part of the routine was so much fun."

Kelson scheduled Bush to be at a community event during a rehearsal where the other dancers learned the alternate routine. The team only had one practice to rehearse the proposal, and they pulled it off beautifully.

"It was an honor to plan with Brandon and be a part of their special moment and just proud of my team for keeping it a surprise," Kelson said. "It definitely was a team effort."

And it was definitely a proposal to remember. Congratulations, Danielle and Brandon!

Five year-old Abi has a passion for fashion. Like many creative people her age, the self-described fashionista loves singing, dancing, and dressing up for mother-daughter photoshoots alongside her twin sister.

You wouldn’t know it from her bright smile, but just last year Abi received a life-saving bone marrow transplant to treat a painful blood disorder she’s had since birth. “We were told she needed a bone marrow transplant or the alternative was for her to have a stroke at the age of three,” Abi’s mom says.

That is scary news no parent wants to hear, but Abi’s mom knew her daughter needed the treatment to survive. Despite the pain, Abi bravely received repeat bone marrow transplants over the course of a year. (Her twin sister Vivi was the generous donor!)

After the treatments, the family was connected with Make-A-Wish®, a nonprofit that spreads hope and positivity by granting wishes for young people like Abi who are fighting critical illnesses.

“I like dressing up and taking pictures with my sister,” Abi says. “I have been doing it for a long time and my mom told me that one day I will be on billboards all over the world.”

Photo courtesy of Abi's family

Inspired by her family’s stylish shoots, Abi wished to be on a Macy’s billboard. To fulfill that dream, Abi, Vivi, and their mom traveled to New York City earlier this year to participate in a photoshoot with the Macy’s creative team in partnership with Make-A-Wish. The two siblings posed in a series of outfits that included an animal print number with a white fuzzy vest and a festive red lace dress with black-and-white sneakers.

The event was a huge success for Abi and her family. And the billboard debuts November 29 in Prince George, Maryland this holiday season.

“I loved NYC, I really enjoyed the photoshoot. It made me soooo happy and I can't wait to go back to New York,” Abi says.

“The effort put into our experience was phenomenal,” Abi’s mom adds. “I know the experience in New York was special and etched in the minds of the twins. They often ask when we are going back to New York for another photoshoot. Throughout the experience, we felt loved, thought about, and seen.”

Make-A-Wish couldn’t spread joy to children, families, and communities without the generous support of individuals and partners like Macy’s. Giving can start with something as simple as a letter to Santa: If you write a letter online or drop one off at a big red letterbox in-store, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million in total.

Besides sending letters to Santa, there are even more ways to support Make-A-Wish at Macy’s during the season of giving. For every purchase of the $4 Believe Bracelet, Macy’s will donate $2 to Make-A-Wish from now through December 31. Customers can also donate on Macys.com through the end of 2021 to help spread hope and happiness to children with life-changing illnesses.

Since 2003, Macy’s has donated over $137 million to Make-A-Wish. These donations have helped Make-A-Wish fulfill the dreams of more than 16,000 young people just like Abi!

When a video caption reads, “blows my mind how people can be,” you tend to expect the worst. And though it’s practically common knowledge that misogyny is still a very real thing, watching this woman outright refuse to let another woman work on her car is still shocking. Not to mention troubling.

Nearly 2 million people on TikTok have now seen this video, which was uploaded by a woman named Rachel (@25centrayray), who works at a car dealership in the service department.

On the screen we see: “When a Karen calls and we are all female service writers…”

Rachel’s coworker, Autumn, simply answers the phone with a warm, professional greeting, and the woman on the other line is already displeased.

“Autumn, I didn't ask for a female, I would like to talk to a male.”

Yeah, she said that. And more.

The woman continued, “my opinion is that females don’t belong in the service department. They belong behind the scenes doing the paperwork.”

This is the part that really got me. Like, doesn’t this woman know that 99% of most jobs is paperwork? What does that even mean?

Rachel lets us know that their department is run by a female service director who oversees two dealerships and has more than 25 years of experience. So if this woman is looking for a qualified professional, she’s in luck!

But if she simply needs a male in charge, she’s asking for disappointment.

Autumn breaks the sad news that unfortunately, there are no males in the dealership’s service department. The only solution is to transfer her to the sales department, where there is a male coworker.

Which is actually a nonsolution as, predictably, the woman will get transferred back. And she does.

When the woman eventually gets back on the line, she tells Autumn that she needs to make an appointment, threatening, “I just hope there are no females on the desk when I get there.” Yikes.

Once again Autumn (the real MVP of this whole debacle) keeps her cool and politely reminds the woman that there are still no males who work in the service department.

The woman’s reply? “Oh God, that is totally messed up. I need my oil changed but there better be a male mechanic that I can talk to.”

Rachel lets us know that this woman is something of a regular customer, and has “some issue every visit,” but this goes beyond just being a difficult patron.

The woman then says that she doesn’t "want a female working on [her] car” because last time she came, it took a hour to do a job that should have taken five minutes. That because an “incompetent” female failed to page her at a reasonable time, she had to “track down a male” to get it sorted.

Rachel tells us what actually happened though.

“The time she speaks of is the appointment she refused to reschedule due to our shop getting hit with Covid and being down four techs so the shop was behind, and was told of the extended wait time.”

It’s always a best practice to avoid judgment and take a middle approach, but as a woman watching this, I can’t help but be gutted.

As one person wrote, “I will never understand female hating other females,” and, well, yeah. Hate is what it feels like.

Other people in the comments were quick to respond to this abhorrent behavior, including a woman who wrote, “as a female mechanic I’m livid.”

“This is repulsive,” another person added.

Others had more biting (yet pretty funny) responses:

"Ma'am, did you get your husband's approval first before you called us? I’d like a handwritten permission and notarized before we can continue..."

“You should have told her that her husband needs to call to schedule the appointment to make sure it's the right service being requested.”

To the dealership’s credit: The owner, rightfully “shocked and outraged” after seeing this video, had the woman “fired as a customer.”

You would think—especially in this day and age—that our society could wrap their heads around the fact that yes, women are completely capable of doing more than “behind the scenes” jobs.

But rest assured, if this woman holds this opinion, others do too. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating all at the same time.

On the other hand TikTok is an amazing platform for exposing outdated thinking and challenging obsolete societal norms. One of our staff writers, Tod Perry, wrote a few months ago about a female mechanic who was told “she didn’t belong” by a male coworker. As the headline suggests, she proved him wrong.

As more and more women pursue opportunities, do kickass work and succeed, it’s bound to piss a few people off, who somehow view equality as some sort of threat to tradition. But in the end, that’s their problem.

A customer totally ignored this young woman's signals that she wasn't interested.

Ask a random woman if a man has ever made her question her safety just by talking to her, and chances are you're going to hear an immediate yes. Not all interactions with strangers lead to discomfort, of course, and sometimes it just comes down to basic gut instinct. There are also varying levels of discomfort when men talk to you as a woman, from "Oof, this is awkward" to "I feel creeped out right now" to "I wonder if this guy is a serial killer."

When a man starts talking to us in a way that makes us uncomfortable, we generally make it known in some way. Most of us won't come out and say, "Back off, dude," unless the behavior becomes super egregious, because 1) it may not be in our personality to be blunt, 2) we expect that the guy will take the hint eventually or 3) we sense that confronting the man would make us even more unsafe than we already feel.

More often than not, we make our discomfort clear in our body language and the way we respond to questions. Long story short, if we don't show we're interested, we're not interested.

A viral video from TikTok News shows an interaction between a 19-year-old woman selling stickers at a retail shop and a man who kept asking her questions about herself. It's a masterclass in what not to do as a guy and a perfect example of what signs to look for to determine that a woman isn't picking up what you're laying down.

So first of all, after the first few questions about her age and where she goes to school, the guy should have gotten the clue that she was not interested in conversing with him further. Her answers were short and to the point. She didn't offer any additional details, nor did she reciprocate with questions about him. If a woman is interested after you strike up a conversation, she will not answer your questions this way.

She didn't add what she's studying or whether she likes school. She didn't ask, "How old are you? Do you go to school?" She shows no interest whatsoever in keeping the conversation going.

Second of all, her body language is a clear indicator. She's not smiling warmly. She's not leaning casually over the counter toward him. She doesn't go over to him when he asks for help. She stands still, fidgets sometimes and only moves when she needs to in order to do her job.

This is the body language of a woman who is uncomfortable. Not "just shy." Not "playing hard to get." Uninterested and uncomfortable, clearly.

Why wouldn't she just refuse to answer his questions, or be direct and tell him to leave her alone? For one, she's working. He's her customer. There's a certain level of courtesy and friendliness that is customary and expected from an employee working with the public. And it's not always easy to gauge exactly when it crosses the line into inappropriate-enough-to-say-something. While this guy's behavior got creepier and creepier as he ignored her cues that she wasn't interested, nothing he said was clearly problematic.

That's part of what is so frustrating about interactions like this. It's not like the guy is being gross or saying anything over the top. It's the relentlessness that's the issue. Question after question about her life. Some might say he was trying to be friendly or "just making conversation." No, he wasn't. Conversation is a two-way street. It's not a man peppering a woman with personal questions continually as she gives one-word answers and clearly doesn't want to keep talking.

Is it possible that he just isn't good at reading social cues? Sure. Is it possible that he thought he was flirting and that she would feel flattered by it? Sure. Is she still uncomfortable? Yes. Is his refusal to give up still creepy and inappropriate? Yes.

I'd venture a guess that nearly every woman out there has been in this young woman's shoes, unsure of whether our safety is at risk. It's easy to say, "Oh, come on. He was just talking." But this is a man who doesn't seem to respect boundaries in conversation—why would she expect him to respect boundaries in any other way?

Women constantly have to calculate whether men who make us uncomfortable are just awkward or if they are a threat, and it sucks. Just as we have to look for signs of potential danger, we certainly should be able to expect men to look for signs that we're not interested.

And if the man actually did notice her signals and purposely ignored them, then she was right to be wary. Being friendly is one thing. This is entirely another.