Undergraduate / "Pain is temporary...If I quit however, it lasts forever"; UCF Essay 'bump in the road' topic [4]

This is the famous prompt from UCF about the bump in the road in a personal or academic way and explain the circumstance. I need help with structure, relevance and word count. I'm at 368 words.

Lance Armstrong once said, "Pain is temporary...If I quit however, it lasts forever." Growing up, I enjoyed reading inspiring stories dealing with strong characters who faced challenge after challenge before ultimately realizing their purpose in life. I always thought to myself that when I grew up and finally had problems of my own, I would face them without doubt or fear just like the characters I've read about. Naively, I didn't realize that obstacles not only come in the way of adults, but kids as well. As a preteen, I was surrounded by a protective bubble of love and support by my friends and family; a bubble that I falsely believed would be with me forever. At the age of twelve, I became a victim of severe bullying by someone that I and my family least expected; my only sister's best friend. She resented the close knit relationship that my family shared contrary to hers and was determine to break us apart. Piece by piece, she took away the things that I cherished in life; my friends, my supporters, my family and finally my self-esteem. I was no longer the happy smiling kid I once was; I was constantly subject to violent rages, moody, quiet. One of the top students in my class, I could no longer focus and began failing my classes. I was forced to heal quietly overtime, slowly letting go of the anger that I concealed in my heart as the seasons changed. Now, at the age of 17, I look back and laugh. I realized that in this unexpected life that we live in, nothing, good or bad lasts forever. The important thing is our response to the situations we're faced with. If I had given up on my family, on school, on myself then I wouldn't be the strong willed person I am today. Our obstacles and situations aren't the things that make us stronger. It's the decisions we make afterward that really reveal the hidden warrior in us. The road ahead of me remains unknown, and as a student furthering my education endeavors I know that I will be faced by all sorts of obstacles: horrible professors, difficult subjects you name it. Quitting however, is not an option.