They were bullying her, they threw her against the lockers. She had no friends around to help her. She ran for the classroom and there they chased her around the desks.

"Stop!" said Lily

"This is what you get for dropping my project," Casandra said. That's when the game alarm rang, "WHOOP! "WHOOP!..." the game was about to commence. Lily was startled and didn't know what was going on. This was a special event never been seen before since 1976. The girls that were bullying her shook in fear and cowered they weren't ready for what was about to come. The girls all also wondered what was going on. The game was commencing that's what was going on. Soon the overhead speakers flooded the silence in front of the school parking lot "Listen carefully, the game is simple, choose a lane color any lane color…and if your platform isn’t the incorrect color then you’ll be fine. The game won’t end until the last platform color remains. If you do not play then you will die." Lily was baffled about what she just heard. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Lily heard the instructions and just as she was about to process this information Cassandra violently shoved her with a smile on her face. "How could she?" Lily thought. The ground rumbled and a sink in the ground opened up, simply simulated, in the middle of the parking lot. Fear and chills ran down her spine, this was real and Cassandra still was playing her silly games at this moment in time. Five platforms floating appeared in the middle of the sinkhole. The colors were green, blue, yellow, orange, and red in that order. The lanes were far, deep, and wide. A school bus pulled up since it was the beginning of the day and everybody rushed out of the bus to the sinkhole in the ground where the platforms were. as soon as the school bus driver arrived Lily asked "how did you know the game was starting?"

"We heard it over the bus speakers," said the bus driver.

Tess was crying to God to help her overcome all of her trials and tribulations. She was always a shy extrovert and has not always struggled with social anxiety. Her social anxiety began when she was crying uncontrollably that one time in front of the school and the coronavirus just came to light. That was five years ago. When Tess was living with social anxiety she considered herself shy and an extrovert. It didn’t help that she didn’t have a phone during or before her social anxiety which made it that much more severe. She was all alone during the journey and only had her therapist to talk to. That is until she started going outside. Tess went through about 6 online therapy sessions with the doctor that did wonders for her social anxiety reverse progression until it didn’t. She was still struggling to speak, and still distressed in situations she was exposed to. Her social anxiety was still getting in the way of her ability to function and thrive. She had to start self-therapy which was difficult and painful and also stopped working after a few therapy sessions. The thing with social anxiety is that it doesn’t go away for years. You're trying to lose it over time and reverse progress whatever level you're on with your social anxiety, and she had a lot left. Her social anxiety was more of a neurological disorder resulting from factor upon factor being isolated for months. All she had was her broken desktop as a gateway to the outside world and social life. For months on end, she was continuously ticking all over the place and still avoiding social situations for the love of God, she was clueless and scared in social situations and could not handle a social situation to save her life. It felt impossible. She was in her own personal hell, suffering in social situations because of ticks. Going to school was a nuisance, stressed talking to new people with ticks that never seemed to go away. She couldn’t even get recorded without freezing up every time. Her face even looked as if it was in pain. Extremely awkward and unpunctuated, like when you do multiple takes and the first take was the best one, but her first take was always the worst one. It looked like she would scrap together a finishing product. She used to sit down in front of the camera and record herself struggling to get over the fact that she was on camera in the first place and to see the progression of her social anxiety that for months on end did not change. She first started experiencing social anxiety in high school, and this lasted throughout her high school years. When she first entered high school, she lacked confidence and kept to herself. No longer the outgoing person she once was. Her eighth-grade year also changed her. As a fourteen-year-old eighth grader, she suffered bullying and name-calling from peers and she carried the weight of this burden with her to the ninth grade. Simply focusing on my schoolwork was a challenge. Tess was unmotivated. She felt stupid. She had lost the spark she once had. Because of this, her grades began to suffer, and she felt embarrassed to even participate in class. This lack of confidence followed me into my junior year, but a fortunate exposure to a positive friend group helped her realize her self-worth. With their help, she started to explore opportunities that allowed her to regain her voice. She volunteered at her church’s foodbank, and took on a leadership role, devoting alternate Saturdays to unpacking boxes, meeting with families in need, and helping her community. The Tess of two years before would not have felt confident enough to join a volunteer group that caters for events and decorates venues. She attributes this resurgence in her esteem to the positive effects of her friend group. Currently, as a freshman in college ready to explore, she is confident in her abilities and has redeemed herself both academically and socially. She now walks around the Museum District with friends, has joined a dance team, and is a diligent student that takes pride in her school work, and was even picked to take part in a TV special. She is so proud of the person she is today because she has overcome a challenge of anxiety, lack of self-worth, and confidence to become the strong, capable person she is today. Through battling and taming my social anxiety, Tess had to endure and overcome a lot, but she is resilient in the fact that her challenge has made her stronger.

“I will not romanticize the past; the years of bullying and social anxiety were dark; however, I am able to view these years in a vein of positivity: I see the silver lining. These years have made me stronger. These years have ingrained in me a will to succeed. These years have made me more empathetic. I have overcome these challenges, and I am ready to take on whatever challenges college may offer. And, I am ready to overcome them all,” Tess said as she finished reciting her essay.