Bullying 101

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One of the worst things to experience throughout your life time is the experience of being bullied. I know from my own personal experience that being bullied makes life 10x harder. You get this feeling like you’re all alone and the world is just out to constantly get you. Today, bullying has gotten so serious, and continues to be an even bigger problem anyway you go.

                I’m going to start off by bringing you back to the time when I experienced bullying up close. It was the beginning of the winter months because I remember there was lots of snow on the ground. 3^rd grade was going so easy for me. I was getting good grades, had a great group of friends, and I thought everybody loved me just because I was so sweet and caring to anyone. But, the key word in that sentence was thought. There was actually a group of boys, I would say about 8 or so, would constantly be picking on me, teasing me, and sometimes even physically hurting me all during the 20 minute recess time. Every chance that they got, they would continue to harass me. For a whole month, I felt like I was just some puppet and they were the controllers that wouldn’t let me have a break. With the school board finally getting involved, I could go back to living my happy, normal life.

                Bullying today is found to be a lot different than what I experienced back in elementary school. Especially in the halls of high school, there’s more violence that is involved. I think teachers should keep a more open eye on the students and what’s happening throughout the halls. I’m not saying all teachers, but a handful of them, probably don’t even notice some of the violence going on throughout our halls or even what’s posted on social media. If teachers want to see more students succeed, they should open their eyes more and see what really happens in halls and the outside world.

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Parents can also be really clueless when it comes to knowing if their child is being bullied or not. Usually it’s not even the parents’ fault; usually the kids are scared to get an adult involved. I know for a fact that I was terrified to tell my parents because I thought I would get bullied even more because I was a tattle tale. But actually, if you don’t get an adult involved, then the bullying will never go away.

Another situation of how bullying has effected loved ones I know would be how the past few years, my younger sister and some of her friends have been getting bullied by this guy that was in a few of her classes. She thought it would eventually go away, but instead it started to get worse and worse until the point where she didn’t even want to come to school anymore. She told a few people, but she didn’t want to tell my parents because she didn’t want the bully to come after her more. Eventually, it got to the point where she had to tell my parents which then got the school principal involved. Slowly the bullying started to come to a stop all thanks for informing an adult.

My sister’s experience is a great example of why we need/should tell someone who has more authority over students like my parents or the principal did when it came to my sister and her friends. If someone you know is getting bullied, get an adult involved right away so they can put the bullying to a stop. If you’re a bystander, don’t be afraid to get up and stand up for the person being bullied. One of the best things to help someone who is getting harassed or bullied is to just be there friend and be there for them. Bullies’ jobs are to make the victims feel all alone and like there’s no way they can be helped. But actually, there are so many different ways to help prevent and stop bullying from continuing throughout schools.

                Sadly bullying can lead to some pretty intense things. On social media you see so many posts about bullying and how extreme it can be. Some students even have taken their own life because of bullying. You never realized how serious this truly could get until your own school has lost a student to suicide because of bullying. Earlier this spring, my own high school lost a freshman girl because she wanted to be gone from all that pain that the bully caused her. She had so much to look forward to in her life like having her father walk her down the aisle, or even graduation, but sadly she won’t be able to experience any of those things because the bullying got too far. We sure do miss her like crazy, but at least she’s bully free now and can actually be happy for once.

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What does it take for us to stop and realize that bullying has become such a huge issue lately? Do we really need another suicide in our society to get the point across that we need to grow up and not bully others anymore? Bullying is so childish, but sadly some don’t know how to grow up. But, you can take a stand and not bully anyone yourself or help others out who are the victims. Bullies want to succeed in making you feel worthless; just know that you are better than the bully, and with your mindset like that, you can overcome anything. Just like what Ellen DeGeneres’ says at the end of every show, “Be kind to one another!”

Life's Greatest Blessing!

My sisters and I in our
Happiness Jackets

                “Friends come and go, but you will always have family no matter where you go!” This is a famous quote that I could imagine so many people have heard of and even say still today. The quote can be cheesy at times, but it’s absolutely true though. Throughout your whole life, friends will come into your life but not all of them that you make will stick with you as you grow older, but family is something that we will always have forever!

                For those of you who don’t know, I’m the 3^rd child in the family out 4. Sometimes being a middle child isn’t always the greatest, but there are so many more reasons why being a middle child is quite nice. For starters, I have two older and one younger sister always by my side. If I ever need advice on things, it’s nice to be able to have two older sisters with more experience and wisdom that could help me out. When it comes to having a younger sister, I can help her out on things that she needs help either from homework to even boy troubles. When it comes to being a middle child, I would say it’s a win win for me; I can get some really good advice and even hand it down.

Two of my cousins;
Cassidy and Vivian

                We can all say that being a teenage are the worst years. We try to think that we can do everything on our own and that whatever our parents say are wrong no matter what. We get so caught up in the moment thinking that our parents don’t know anything that everybody’s patience level goes way down.  But want to hear the truth: Even though we might not always agree with what our parents say, they have so much more wisdom and experience than us teenagers do! Sometimes it’s hard to listen to or may even hurt a little of what our parents are truly saying, but just remember they are only saying that stuff because they love you so incredibly much!



                Parents can come in handy for more than just lecturing you; sometimes it may not seem like it, but parents can give out some of the best advice ever. With having the most experience can lead to some really good advice that could even help you in a tough situation. But, I do have to say that they might not have all the advice you need on a particular situation because their life style as teenager was way different compared to now a days. But, I can promise you that they can trade in the advice for a warm hug any day. Just being in our parents’ warm hugs can be the best kind of comfort out there! I know for a fact my parents are great at cheering me up!

                Family doesn’t just consist of who you live with and see every day; family most certainly includes all your relatives no matter how far away they live. In fact, I have family from both sides all over the United States. For me, I mainly have family in Iowa, but I also have family that lives in North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, Minnesota, and more. Distance can never become a problem when it comes to family!

My grandma with her 12 kids

 

                One thing that I love to say is that just within my mom’s side, I have over 50 cousins. I always love seeing people’s reactions whenever I tell them that. Yes, that’s right you read it right; over 50 cousins just on my mom’s side. My mom is the 5^th child of 12. My grandma and grandpa were kept busy with their 4 daughters and 8 sons. With having lots of family on my mom’s side, the noise level raises pretty quickly. One plus side of having so many people as family is that there’s always someone to talk to or do things with. From either playing cards or needing help with a situation there is someone who we can always turn to no matter what time of day.



                Most families aren’t as lucky to have such a big family, but no matter what the size of the family is; one thing will always remain and that’s the love everybody shares with one another. Yeah, families will fight and argue, but it’s what happens afterwards that makes you guys still a family! Just like Lilo and Stitch says, “Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten!”

 

The Empty Tomb

My family and I at Easter
Sunday church service

What is Easter really about? Even though we all enjoy finding lots of candy in our baskets from the Easter Bunny, the real meaning behind Easter is way more important than just some eggs filled with candy; Easter season can be the saddest and the happiest time of the year. Jesus Christ is the true reason why we get together with family and celebrate this wonderful holiday!

                One of the holiest weeks of the whole year is the week before Easter. It starts with Palm Sunday, goes into Holy Thursday, then Good Friday, Easter Virgil Saturday night, and finally Easter day on Sunday. Just within one whole week, so many things happen that it’s just all mind blowing.

                Out of all those days, Palm Sunday is the day with the least action, but it’s still important day. Jesus rides through the town on a donkey while the crowd lays down palm branches along his path. It’s the beginning of soon to be the Passover.

                Holy Thursday is where the action truly starts. It consist of the last supper and the washing of the feet of the disciples. Before Jesus proclaims he is the bread and wine of life, he washes the feet of his 12 disciples telling them to do the same to others and continue to spread the word of Jesus. While the supper was going on, Jesus also predicted out of the 12 who would betray and deny him the following day. That was the last full night Jesus was able to be alive.



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                Good Friday is the day that the tears come out. The service that is held at my church is always so powerful. They do such a great job explaining the crucifixion and death of Jesus. They perform this beautiful song that leads lots of people in tears as well as being able to go up and kiss a wooden cross. This service is always one of the saddest services ever because Good Friday is the day that Jesus breathed his last.



                Saturday is the day that everybody just mourns over his death. Nothing really big happens on that Saturday, but I know for a fact that for the Catholic Church, lots of celebrations are taken place. That night I swear is the longest service EVER! I think it usually last a little longer than two hours. That night is the night that the newest members of the Catholic faith fully becomes part of the church by either getting baptized, First Communion, or getting confirmed. Every year we have about 5-10 people of all ages get initiated into the Holy Catholic Church.

                After this long Holy week, Sunday finally rolls around and lots of celebrations are taking place. What great way to celebrate one of the church’s greatest moment is by spending it with your family?! Lots of families gather together and have their own little feast to rejoice and celebrate that Jesus has risen from the tomb and is now up in Heaven with our Holy Father!

                The Easter season can be such a beautiful and powerful time to remember why we are actually here and how our sins are all forgiven because of the man who was hung on the cross to die for us. Just like how The Newsboys say, “God’s not dead, but surely alive!”

WPA night

My parents and my sister
all ready to go to the dance

              Most students love the spring time. Not just because the weather is getting nicer and it’s getting closer to the last day of school, but because of the school dance WPA. For any of you who don’t know, WPA stands for Women Pay All. Dances have always been put on the spot for the guys to ask the girl, the guys to pay for the dinner, and the guys to provide the ride for the girls. This time, the guys can get a break and have the girls do everything for the dance. They have to ask the guys and pay for the bill of the meal. It’s only fair for the girls to have a turn to making their night be just as perfect as if the boys were paying.



                I can honestly say that out of all my years in high school, not once have I gone to a WPA dance. I’ve been more of the homecoming person; not just much WPA. WPA is just a smaller version of homecoming. Less people attend and it’s not as big of a deal like homecoming really is.

                While everybody was out getting their hair and makeup ready, I was home “helping” my younger sister get ready. And by helping, I mean just sit and watch her get all fancied up. When she came out in her beautiful dress, I had to do a double take because she looked so gorgeous with her perfect hair, perfect makeup, and perfect dress; she was perfect in everything! She had her boyfriend and a group of friends come over while I was pronounced the photographer for my sister’s phone.

My dinner date with my best friend Sydney

                Even though it would have been fun dressing up and going to the dance with a group of friends, the following night I actually had an anti-WPA with my best friend. After she got off work, we hung out at my house and had our own dinner date. Cookie dough and sushi is the best anti-WPA meal anyone could ever have! We spent the rest of the night with lots of laughs while watching movies.

                Maybe next year I’ll actually go to WPA (even if I don’t have a date still just with some friends) because it’s my senior year. I love the excitement of getting ready and the pain of smiling for all the pictures that are taken! I would say everybody has to experience at least one WPA throughout their high school years!