THE NO BULLYING PROJECT

Quick Story #15

When I was in highschool, like I said I was subject to a lot of ridicule. Most of which were out of my control. But in my senior years, I realised something, it's better to try to make light of the situation that try to fight it. I don't know if it makes any sense to you right now but that was how I was feeling. And I'm not saying it's going to work for everyone, it didn't work well for me actually.

As I progressed into tenth grade, usually in most Nigerian schools, when a student gets into their senior years, their uniforms change so they can be differentiated from their juniors. In my case, we were given plain white shirts, pleated skirts and a tie instead of a plain white shirt with a pinafore dress to wear over.

Each year we were given a new set of the uniforms just incase people added or lost weight. In my case it always seemed like I gained weight over the holidays. However much I tried I couldn't just ward off the weight and sometimes every semester I came back a few pounds heavier so my uniform was always tighter. So my classmates would tease me about it and sometimes tease me about my height.

I was so short that my legs dangled in the air in every chair I sat on. I know it seems like just normal teasing between you and your friends but that's not how it felt for me. I was extra insecure because of what I had gone through before entering senior school so even the innocent teasing got to me.

I always tried to go with it and laugh with them but inside it hurt because I didn't actually like it and I knew that the more you complained about somethings, the more you got teased by it. It didnt work the way I thought it would instead I was giving myself a lot of problems by keeping it in.

Moral of this story? It's always going to be the same thing I've been hammering on in previous chapters. SPEAK OUT! If someone's doing or saying something you don't like, speak out. No one's going to do that for you. No one is going to be able to speak your mind for you. And I know that sometimes it's hard to be able to say exactly how you feel. Trust me, I've been there, I know the feeling where you can't just find the right words to tell people what exactly you feel but you just have to try. You have to get up and keep trying because one day, you will find your voice and you'll even be shocked with how much ease you will express yourself. And when you've done that, you're more than just a step closer to solving your problems.

Remember to always be kind to one another

#NoMoreBullying