Stand Up by Grace

Stand Up by Grace - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

The most important lesson I have learned outside of school is to stand up against bullying. My freshman year I attended Cardinal Gibbons High School and hated it with a burning passion. I was bullied for the way I dressed, the way I talked, my obsession with sports, for just being me. I transferred sophomore year to Sanderson High-school. It was the best decision I ever made. For the first time I was popular. People considered me top of the social chain. My friends were great to me but not to other people. In the blink of an eye I became the girl I hated freshman year. Not the one who told me I was ugly but the one who stood there and let it happen. I became that wimp, the one who could not look at herself in the mirror.
About a month ago I decided I must put this to an end so i met with my friends and told them the effect of their words, and how awful we were being. I would like to tell you that everything got better but instead they proceeded to kick me out of my friend group. Everyday I walk by as the giggle and whisper at the has-been-girl. Yet I am the happiest I have ever been. All the kids that were victims of my "friends" thanked me for standing up for them. I only have real friends now, and I can look at myself again. I can't begin to explain the change in the way I feel about myself now. I learned that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and care.