My favorite time of the day in elementary school was recess because everyone got to go out and play together. I had a lot of friends and got along with just about everyone in school who I knew. I approached all of the new kids and tried to be friends with them. One day, we had a new kid who many of my friends already knew and warned me to stay away from, but, of course, I didn't listen to them. I approached them like I approached everyone else, but this time I got a different response.
Growing up, I didn't really know what "being racist" or "discrimination" were, but I soon learned what they were once I said hello to my bully. I never thought that I would have a bully, I just thought that it happened on TV. My bully made me question and hate my race. They made me ashamed to be who I was and where I came from. I isolated myself from anyone who was "Mexican/Hispanic" or, in his words, "a wetback."
My friends didn't really know why I was being so quiet and why I started to isolate myself from them. They did know that he sad "bad things" to me, but no one knew how much it affected me. I never told anyone how much it was affecting me or everything that he was saying to me. My bully never threatened to hurt me, but they were hurting me on the inside where I wanted to hurt myself.
I had always loved going to school, but my bully slowly started to kill that to about me. I started to hate going to school because I knew I would see him. I lived in a small town of mainly white people, which added a bigger effect on the situation. I started to feel like I didn't fit in, even though I had many friends and my teachers loved me.
It soon affected me to the point where I shut the world out, even my parents. I would hardly talk to them and tell them about my day. My mom grew worried and asked if something was wrong, but I just lied and said that I was fine. I then started to tell her that I didn't want to go to school and that's where she really started to worry. My mom asked every day about my day and soon started to demand what was wrong with me. There came a time when I couldn't stand it anymore and told my mom what was happening to me.
The next day, I saw my mom at school and I was called to the principal's office. The principal then made my bully come in and apologize for everything he said and did to me. After that day, my bully never talked me or looked at me again. He soon moved to a different town.
My elementary bully taught me a very valuable lesson that I live by today: "Don't judge the cover of a book." Don't judge people based on how they look or discriminate against people because of their race. That really hurts people and it can lead them to hate themselves. I don't want anyone to go through what I went through nor feel so much hatred. Live your life and let others live theirs!
