“When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.”This is a quote I have grown to adore most. With its powerful focus on true courage  and discipline repeating in my mind. I have reflected on the events in my life that I have triumphantly came to own over the past several years. My childhood has not been idyllic: I have faced such troublesome situations where I felt I had almost lost myself halfway along the way. Facing the reality and challenges of bullying has played a key role in the many mistakes that I have made in response. As my days turned into dark shades of grey, there right along the way led the golden path of the lessons of courage and character building in which came across from the hardships that came into contact with my humanity. These are the lessons that I was fortunate enough to learn at my early stages of adulthood rather than later on in life. As many individuals would say, “Rather sooner than later”. At some point in every little girl’s life, she becomes engrossed in the world of sugar coded rainbowgumdrops and unicorns, a simply marvelous fantasy in which I entered, as I look back at mychildhood. I must admit those were the best of times. This beautiful memoir vanished into the mist as Ientered my higher levels of education in school. School could be either a wonderful learning experiencefor most or, one hell of a living nightmare for some. Growing up can be a very cruel expierence. Over the years, I’ve encountered obscene words and actions from fellow peers whom I laid eyes on each and every day. A push into a locker, shoving in the hallways, heinous words being shouted as I passed – I always seemed prone to these acts performed by my fellow unkind classmates. My struggle for acceptance was a work in progress but it seemed to go nowhere. I’ve experienced jokes and playful comments about my appearance just because I was a bit taller and overweight than my fellow peers. Constantly hearing these foul remarks soon tricked me to believe that such critiques were accurate.  The transition of loosing myself occurred from the motivated well prepared student I was,  to the monstrous slacker who no longer contained the motivation to succeed in life. My silence led to me avoiding school, hiding away from the lunchroom, and not being attentive in class. After weeks of keeping up my act and hiding my secret, I promised myself to not allow myself to be silent. Moderately, I approached my counselor and parents, with their support I grew an extra layer of strength. I owned up to my mistakes by telling the truth. It was difficult getting myself back on track but in time my confidence began to grow.  I realized a myriad of insecurity kept me silent but till this day I am motivated to succeed. Now, with the confidence and powerful character I have gained I  believe I can do anything.