Some use the stairs to reach class, others use the stairs to reach millions. The now iconic stairs, located by the auditorium, have in the past months become a hotspot for filming TikToks, after several videos shot there went viral.
Senior Matthew Munoz and junior Lukas Wuhrer could not be any more different, but they have both risen to online fame through dances filmed there, where the sunny lighting is as bright as the desire for another hit.
Munoz was the first to use the stairs. With more than 60 thousand followers on TikTok and more than five millions likes, Munoz, however, had already gone viral by that point.
“When I first went viral, it was back in March and it was a soccer video and I didn’t expect it to go viral because it was my last try, and I was like ‘Let me try it one more time,’” said Munoz. “It didn’t really go viral the first day, but the second day I woke up and saw it was at one million views and was like, wow. I was shocked. I felt really cool.”
If you search “Annandale High School ” on TikTok, Munoz’s dance videos are first to come up. The stairs have become a microtrend among students at neighboring high schools. While other high schools in Northern Virginia have previously seen internet success filming TikToks in their school’s staircases and hallways, Munoz brought the trend to AHS.
“It was a day, where I was walking with my cousin and I had recently seen kids from other schools like Robinson and Justice High School start posting their stairs, and I was like, ‘you know what? let’s just make one at Annandale,’” Munoz said. “I thought it would be cool if I could try to blow up,” Munoz said.
And indeed it did, receiving over one million views and 176k likes.
“It feels nice to be one of those schools that have people that put them on the map, not many schools have that… Like when people say Annandale they think of Luke, me, or like Guyser,” Munoz said.
But Annandale is no one hit wonder, as varsity quarterback, Luke Wuhrer has also reached viral TikTok success.
In late August, Wuhrer posted a TikTok, shot during a media day shoot, for the boy’s varsity football team, which quickly reached over 5.1 million views.
“I was a little surprised,” said Wuhrer
What started as Wuhrer posting on TikTok “because my friends said I should and I thought it would be fun” as Wuhrer said, soon skyrocketed into TikTok fame. Even further, people from across the internet began creating edits of his videos: overlaying music, transitions, and filters.
“I think it’s a little cringey, and I get made fun of for it,” Wuhrer said.
Both Wuhrer and Munoz can agree that life with fame is never a straight line. With everyone at your school knowing you can come a variety of responses and interactions.
“People just look at me weird,” Wuhrer said. He joked that a downside to posting on TikTok was “Definitely cyberbullying. It hurts my feelings a lot.”
Munoz said it has been a mixture of ups and downs.
“There have been many people, both in and out of school who have been like ‘Oh, I’ve seen you on TikTok,’” Munoz said. “There’s also those people who make fun of you or hate for no reason, but at the end of the day, they are viewing me still and giving me the likes.”
