When I first came here in 2014 I was happy but also scared when I entered school because of that fear the kids in my school used to bully me, come from dominican republic form a very poor place in there i was happy and comfortable but when i got here that change i was not comfortable my fear went up, and when i got to school the problems happen, They were talking about things in English. 

“Bad words” I heard one boy say that im stupid and when i look at him he say “what you looking at stupit boy” when we all get to lunch he and his friends started to punch me but not hard while they say forget you fat boy.

“ ANother boy says that im ugly and fat .”

At that time I didn't understand because I was unsocial. I was scared to talk to people after all that but then i met a kid who talk spanish to so me and him talk a lot starting to know each other and then he present me other kids they were cool so my fear went down and i started to feel comfortable in school but the bullies came again but now i understand what they say about me,”they say wassup stupid” so I get up and say “what do you want” and they push me so I respond with a punch my other friends came to help me and we all fight until the teachers came to take us to the principal office, when I got there I told everything to the principle she can speak Spanish so I explain her really well, she put them in detention and I was free from them. After that nobody messed with me, they were starting to talk to me and I was feeling more comfortable. I stayed in that school until the seventh grade. I was very popular at that time. I had problems with Arabs fighting with them, but in the end I calmed down more and avoided problems. Since I changed schools in the eighth grade, I decided to be calm and quiet and pay attention to the class so that they have to call my mom for my behavior. Nowadays I’m calm and always smiling no matter what the problems are. I always smile and the only thing I want right now is to graduate and get more money so that I can help my mom with everything. I remember in 2018 I meet a friend of mine that We were always together but he was problematic and was in a gang but with me he was normal, he loved me a lot, we defended each other until one day there came a big problem, me and other friends got into a fight with Arabs who were bothering a friend and we defended him after that big fight they put us in detention and called us one by one to question us about what happened we told him the truth and then they searched our backpack they didn't find anything dangerous but they found my friend a knife after that moment I never saw him again they changed him to another school I felt bad because he was the one I was always with and I trusted him, in those moments I missed him right now I don't know about him maybe he is doing alright. In 2019 I came here to 237 . I met my cousin from the Dominican Republic. He was funnier than me, crazier than me, more popular than me. When we got together it was all fun. We got into trouble but not so serious. We had so much fun together that even the teachers loved us. One day we were in music class and the teacher told him. He told my cousin to say a song he likes. My cousin told him “Jamaican music” and other kids behind him made fun of him saying “those songs are rubbish hahahaha” my cousin stayed silent but when lunch time came he stopped. He confronted that boy and told him that they would fight outside the school the next day, that day I didn't go to school but from what I heard, my furry cousin with that boy outside the school and he beat him, the whole school saw that fight and applauded to my cousin and he earned their respect. After that, they didn't bother my cousin again, he gave himself respect as he should. I grew up without a father, he abandoned me when I was only three months old, my grandmother and my mother raised me years later, my father decided to show up, my mother was not so happy because he abandoned us, he later got to know me more, my mother left him, he told me I would know more after that he decided to bring me and my mother to this country so that I could have a better opportunity and my mother too. Then the years went by, those things that I mentioned before happened and right now I only live with my mother and my little sister. My father lives in another state but we keep in touch. I've had problems with gangs because I don't like these kids now who only cause problems, they have no brains. I used to hang out with gangs before but I realized that if I stay with them I'm going to end up badly. They didn't like me getting away from them and One day there were 3 of them attacking me. At first I couldn't defend myself because I was half confused, but then my anger woke up and I started to defend myself, but in a brutal way I almost killed those 3 boys who attacked me. I left them all bloody and their faces were all deformed, but they also left me a little injured and now I have a scar on my shoulder from that attack. Then someone called the police and an ambulance. I left that place. I didn't tell anyone what happened. Then the days went by and I only thought about how I left. to those boys and the anger I had at that moment but after that they didn't bother me again and neither did the gangs. They all respect me and know that they can't mess with me. We live in a bad society but that doesn't stop me from being a good person. I don't hurt anyone. I just help them or give them advice. Maybe they don't listen to me because these days almost no one pays attention to the advice they are given, but no matter what i always give advice to the people i know. Now I am a man of God. I do not want evil in my life or in the lives of others. I just want peace and I have it. One day I prayed that bad people would be removed from my life and I saw that many people left my life. I prayed for love and God gave me loving people in my life, I prayed for strength and God gave me difficulties to be strong, I prayed for peace of mind and God removed more people from my life who always argued with me, I prayed for a better life and God gave me On a path to being a rich man with a positive mind, my prayers were answered. Nowadays I'm cool just focusing on getting better in  class. To graduate and go to college is kinda difficult but it is possible  and good. Defend people who cannot defend themselves from bullying since I have experience with that and it is not pleasant at all. I feel bad when I see that a person is being bullied and that is why I will defend those innocent children. Bullying is really bad. It can get you rage, increased anger, revenge, jealousy and urge to be in control. All these bad things we can not have because we are gonna cause things that we may regret later. And knowing myself I don't like to regret things. That's why I always think before acting. Because of that mindset I'm in control and always solving things and not getting in trouble. My grandpa ones say that “Avoid problems and bless those who curse you, do not take revenge and you will see how the enemy will become your friend, but you have to be careful because at any moment it can hit you from behind” and i always remember that and it works but like i say earlier god put away a lot of people from my life.