WALK A LIFETIME IN MY SHOES 2.0

INTRODUCTION

Where to start? Let me begin in my first year in high school. A very different environment from primary school I must say. Early high school was really rough on me, it was a dog eats dog environment and only the strong-willed could dominate. But isn't that just how mother nature works? The weak are trampled on and that  is just how it is. I was what is known as a teacher's pet and I did not receive much affection from my peers because of it. 

I remember my first day very clearly.  On the 18th of September 2012 I arrived in my first class of high school just to find them in the middle of a class test, my teacher did not feel it necessary to cut the new kid some slack and give me a free pass. As soon as I sat down she handed me some lined paper and told me to write an essay about one of the topics that were on the board. Not to brag or anything, but I scored an 18/20 and I was tied with some other kid as the highest. I had just been thrown into the lions den and tested as soon as I arrived. Not a bad way to start if you ask me.

I had a hard time fitting in because I only knew no more than four people and I was also a chubby kid which made me very prone to bullying. One of the times I wished the ground would swallow me up because of bullies was during athletics season in P.E. On that day we were to run 400 metres and guys who were not so athletic were grouped with the girls. I was far from being the fastest runner and it was proved when I found myself 4th behind three girls in the first 200 metres of the race. To save myself from the embarrassment I did what at the time felt like a wonderful idea. I pretended to pull a hamstring midway and I forfeited the race. When I arrived in the boys' changing room it was as if all the boys were just waiting for my arrival. As soon as I entered they burst out in laughter, not all of them but a considerable number of them were laughing. I could hear questions like "How could you be slower than a girl?", I felt myself tear up and I rushed out of the room as quick as I entered. I changed into my school uniform in the bathroom that day.

Looking back now I realise just how strong I was for a 12 year old. I was bullied for a long time but never did my grades suffer, not once did I cry and most importantly I never once hated my bullies. As much as I wanted to, as much as I felt I had every right to, I never did. I understood then what I understand now and that is how people treat you is a reflection of who they are and has little to nothing to do with you. Bullies are people that choose to project their insecurities and anger onto other people, it makes them feel powerful in the moment. The best way to deal with bullies of any sort is to stand up to them and I am not saying grab a baseball bat and break their knee caps, no! What you ought to do is to show them that you are stronger than to be hurt by them, that all their efforts to put you down are in vain because you will always rise up. The greatest battle is that of the mind. Bullying is meant to weaken one's resolve so much that it is lower than that of the oppressor. You have to conquer your fear and rise above such petty mind games. Adopt this mentality not just to bullies but to any situation you will encounter in your life. Every problem will always have a solution and the strength to dig yourself out of any predicament will always lie inside of you. 

Remember this; bullies are nothing but insecure people that only put others down because they can not find in them to rise above their victims and that how they treat you is not a reflection of who you are as a person but rather a reflection of who they are.