Ever since I moved here, I have been made fun of. Bullying is a subject you really cannot escape during the school years. However, I have learned to stand up for myself. I do not let others walk over me, and I truly hate watching people bringing other people down. In the eighth grade, I witnessed a boy in my grade been made fun of. It was almost the end of the year, and we were having lunch outside instead of the cafeteria. We all carried our lunch trays, and sat in a circle. I was enjoying my food, but then I heard some of my friends laughing. It caught my attention that the boys who thought they were so cool were pointing at this kid named John. He was sitting by himself, and he knew the guys were pointing at him and cracking jokes about his outfit. Even though those boys were my friends, I thought it was really cruel of them; after all they had no idea who that boy was, and it was really unfair of them to lower his self-esteem. Just watching that, it made my blood boil. I told them to stop, and I grabbed my foot and sat next to him. To this day, I still remember the grin on his face. His smile was so big; it was ear to ear. My peers were shocked, but some of my friends decided to sit with us. John was a little shy, but he was just so unbelievably content. When the bell rang, he timidly waved us bye. Honestly, it really made my heart warm. It was such an easy act of kindness. That same day, my teacher called me over and told me she was very proud of me. Then I was nominated student of the month. Now that we are both in high school, I get really excited whenever I see him on the hallways. We both wave hello, and I will always remember him as my lunch friend in the eighth grade. This really made me open my eyes to how malevolent peers can be to each other, and it has made me realized that helping others always has a positive outcome in my life. Every day I want to stand up for others. I enjoy making others happy, and I am learning to accept other people as they are. I want to keep making optimistic effects in others. I am just a teenage girl wanting to change the world, with one step at a time.
