I use the term "the struggle is real" frequently in my day to day life. Granted, sometime it's a joke, but it stems from a very real place for me. When I was younger, and even to this day I had two problems that plagued me. One, my wheat and lactose intolerance (or whatever anyone calls them), and my need to not miss what is happening. When I was quite young, these two things combined were very detrimental to my life, and I didn't even realize it until it was far too late. These two issues caused a lot of hygiene problems for me, so I smelt a lot. From grade one through four, a combination of the smell and my learning disabilities resulted in a lot of bullying for me, but it didn't really hit me until I switched schools in grade 5. I started in a new school board and a new city, and literally from the first day I walked in there I was bullied. The worst part is that the kids were almost kinder than the teachers. The kids were always making fun of me, verbally assaulting me, avoiding me, name calling. One of my teachers in four years said anything to me about it. There was a time when I was competing to see who would go to a track and field meet, and the four fastest people did 100m sprint. I got in first, and when I was asked what place I came in and I said first, the teacher told me to stop lying, and that just because I wanted something didn't mean I had to lie about it. That's one of the very few times I can think of where students were on my side, and the teacher still said things. This teacher took me off every team, or sat me out as often as possible. The principle was alerted, for both the kids and the teachers bullying, and nothing was ever done. I remember a lot of grade eight I was "sick" and I didn't go to school. When I did I had to tell myself it was my last year, just to get me to the end of the day so I could go home and cry. My mother told me it would end when I went to high school, but there was nothing else she could do. That year to this day, was the worst year of my life. I got to high school, and I met the love of my life. His name is Tyler, and I am still with him today. The bullying continued, but I was so infatuated I didn't even care. Eventually the bullies just got bored of me, I guess. The funnier part is that in my later years of high school I actually started developing acceptable relationships with some of the people who bullied me the most.

Today, I am bully free. I do not tolerate it anymore, and I take a stand where ever I can. I am at Humber College for the CYW program, and I am currently working in the school that I was bullied the most in, along side the teachers who bullied me. I can proudly say I am making a difference in these kids lives, and it is so satisfying, to know that they wont have to deal with the abuse I did.

The struggle is real guys, it exists, and it is a problem.