Dear Bullying,

You have been a big part of my life and it’s truly unfair. Since I was in kindergarten, I have been affected by you and your torments, and it has changed who I am today. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, and sure, you are cruel and horrible, and truly unfair, but if you hadn’t been in my life, I wouldn’t be here writing this letter in this class. When I was in kindergarten, I was choked and hurt by a boy in my class. I don’t remember you in first grade, but I’m sure you were there at some points. When I was in second, third, and fourth grade, girls in my classes were cruel. When I was in third grade, my mom was teaching Spanish, but a fourth-grade teacher was moving. The job would be better pay and hours for my mom, so she applied, but the principal denied her. It would’ve been perfectly fine if the principal had a valid reason to turn her down, but instead the principal said that they couldn’t hire my mom for the job because they were looking for someone more young and bubbly, which by the way is illegal. My mom, being the better person, didn’t decide to press charges or anything, but she quit her job and became a sub in the public schools. It was so unfair for me and her.

Though this was horrible for us, it gave me and my family a new opportunity. I was able to go to Lowell for my last year of elementary school, which was great, and there were a couple mean/annoying people, but overall, it was a lot better than St. Paul’s. Now I realize that you are awful and horrible, and you can change people’s lives. You can ruin somebody’s life and make them feel awful and horrible, but you can also improve someone’s life in the long run. This is not to say that you aren’t horrible, and I know I’ve said that a lot in this letter, but I want to make it clear how much I dislike you, but you made my life better, even if I didn’t see that at the time I was being bullied. Because of how unfairly my mom was treated, I got to go to a new school and meet new people who were and still are truly my friends. One of my closest friend who lives in Minnesota was bullied so much in preschool and elementary school because she had a cleft lip and pallet, which made her face look different, that all the stress triggered alopecia and she lost all her hair. Sure, it was awful for her, but it empowered her to try to end bullying. She has given talks at schools in her town, interviews that have been featured on websites and television. She was featured on American Ninja Warrior with Kevin Bull, and her mom has also been on the show twice. This just goes to show how cruel you can be, but also how you may think that you are making us weaker, and you might be at the time, but you are also empowering us to fight for what’s right and stand up against you.

Let me close with a quote from that friend of mine,

“Don’t bully. It doesn’t benefit you and you don’t know what's going on in someone else’s life, maybe they have a worse life than you.”

Sincerely yours,

An empowered victim of bullying