I am an educator at a major university who has been fighting bullying since high school.  I was blessed with athletic ability and an ability to lead.  I was also blessed to adopt Dr. Martin L. King as my hero at the age of 8.  My belief in Dr. King and what he did made me want to lead and to do things for others.  With him as a mentor from afar I was able to stand up for those who were picked on, to lead by example, and to be a voice for the voiceless.  As a H.S. senior who was Captain of the Football team, class President, and a member of the Gymnastic team I befriended a guy in our class who was gay.  I walked with him in the hallways, sat with him at lunch, and made sure he was included when we hung out at parties and over the weekend.  In the beginning I caught some flack from other jocks, I caught flack from other friends, but I didn't care (And mind you, this was 1978).  This kid was as "cool" as anyone else if they'd only give him a chance.  Slowly but surely things began to change, my new found friend was beginning to be included in things he'd never dreamed of in the past.  As time went on, and people began to see him as a fellow human being, he became just one of the other kids.  By the end of the school year he was "in".  I am proud to say that this is the type of work that I was called to do and continued to do to this day.  In the end, when we come before our maker, I am convinced she/he will not want to know how much money we made, or what degrees we earned.  She/he won't ask the size of our home; the question that will be asked, and we all should be ready to answer is, "What did you do for others?"