Whispers of a Wallflower - TELUS campaign #RiseAbove

A Whisper from the Wallflower

It brings me joy to say I'm involved in the TELUS #RiseAbove movement, and that this story is commissioned by TELUS.

Join the fight against cyberbullying and head over to  to submit your entry!

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I lived off a simple concept: "If it doesn't affect me, why should I care?"

I was never the bully or the bullied; I was another warm body in your English class, the outlier in the drama circle, the blurry face in the school hallway.

But there was a deeper reason to why I didn't care: 

I didn't think my voice mattered.

Why would I put the effort and energy into something that was bigger than me? Why be a part of something out of my control? Cyberbullying seemed like a never-ending battle.

One day, my school announced how a student was verbally harassed by an anonymous group over social media and was now being homeschooled.

I thought there was nothing I could do.

Twelve senior girls, all victims of cyberbullying, thought otherwise and responded in the cafeteria with slam poetry performances about their bullying experience.

Each line made my skin crawl with excitement. 

They were comets that set fire to the sky with bold, explosive streaks of colour and magic. The type where at the end of the day, their hands are dirty, their hair is a mess but their eyes are sparkling. They rise above the enemy and respond resiliently to adversity.

I was in horrible fascination of these beautiful female warriors.  

How could a quiet voiced girl like me rise above? I tried to picture myself publicly speaking and mentally shit my pants.

I had no experience with cyberbullying. Did I have a right to say anything?

I published an article in the school paper about how bystanders struggle to be a part of a movement that doesn't directly affect them and how we can solve that through quieter acts of self-expression like writing or art.

That article ended up in the town newspaper and continues to spread encouragement for the quiet ones to join the fight.

Humans seek self-fulfillment through cheap thrills like social media, which leads to excessive scrolling towards the unhealthy side of the Internet. The side full of comparison, illusions, and anonymous harassment, where society, culture and the media tells us we're not good enough and how our small accomplishments don't mean anything compared to what others have accomplished; how we can't make a difference.

I used to think like that. I never stood up for my thoughts in public and I didn't carry as strong of a presence as the extroverted students, so I believed my voice held little significance.

Rise above this lie.

You don't need a loud voice to matter. Whatever drives you matters. Whatever sets your heart ablaze, whatever means you choose to pursue change in the world, commit to it.

All voices carry weight; loud voices and quiet voices; we are all capable of making an impact.

Your voice matters because you matter.