When I was nine,

I always wondered why everyone would laugh at me when I asked the teacher how to tell time or how to multiply this by that. I always thought I said something funny. So I would just laugh along too.

When I was ten,

I asked the sobbing girl in the corner “What's wrong?” She would look up at me and point towards the laughing kids that would be pointing at her. Continuously laughing. I would always be confused because why would she be crying that she made a lot of kids laugh? Her joke must've been really funny.

When I was eleven,

I saw a boy push another boy into the wall, laughing along with his friends. After they left, I went up to the boy. He flinched when he saw me. I then bent down to pick up his glasses that fell and gave them to him. He looked up at me and said “Thank you,” while running off.

When I was twelve,

It was my first day of middle school. I was walking down the hallway feeling eyes and whispers following me. All of a sudden, I hear someone say, “Go back to where you came from.” I turned around and looked at that person, confused. I then said “But I am from here?” They all laughed while I continued walking down the hallway.

When I was thirteen,

I was on my way to lunch, ready to sit with all of my friends. When I got there, I saw a girl sitting alone, and a lot of girls were surrounding her. She started crying while the girls walked off, laughing. I went up to her and sat right next to her. From the distance, you could hear everyone gasp.

I am now fourteen,

And I realized why they all laughed at me; I realized that the girl in the corner had Down syndrome; I realized why the boy flinched when I approached him; I realized why the girl made that comment when I was walking down the hallway; I realized why everyone gasped when I went to go sit right next to the sobbing girl. I realized that I am tired. No, not physically, I slept quite well last night, but emotionally. I’m tired of being laughed at or others being laughed at.

I came here to tell everyone who is reading this that bullying is actually an issue that everyone goes through. Coming from someone who has been bullied and has witnessed others being bullied. Bullying should come to an end. Now, we all know it won't actually come to an end, but what we can do is stick up for other people. Believe in yourself, find your voice. You are not what the bully says. If we can all just come together as one and help one another. We may not save the world, but we can definitely save the day.