To my peers:

Over the last few days, I've heard comments about someone in our school. The comments were along the lines of that someone being too spoiled, that someone being hypercritical (mostly non-verbally), and that someone being more inquisitive than necessary. These may seem insignificant in nature, these subjects being "just an opinion" but I want to make this clear–that is an example of bullying.

Ah, that word. We've seen it countless times in elementary and middle school, but we don't recognize it much in high school unless someone got physical or yelled inappropriately at someone. Much of bullying discussed in elementary and middle school are now referred to as "opinions", so it makes it sound like they have a right to say something mean about someone else.

I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of this, but some people pass it off and don't realize it. This situation I talked about above is not an exception.

Why is it not an exception? Why am I repeating what most of you supposedly already know? Refer to the following:

It is not our position to judge him/her on his/her behavior.  If this person is causing harm physically or emotionally, or if this person doesn't complete tasks that he/she is supposed to, authority will take care of it. They pass the judgement on that specific part, and hopefully provide resources to fix it. It's possible he/she has a deep insecurity about the flaws others point out. Try to look for something you enjoy about that individual because–trust me–there are good qualities all of the people in our school. Yes, all.

It's a cliché for a reason: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." If this person rubs you the wrong way, you don't have to hang out with them, talk to them, or talk about them. Focus on what you need to do to better yourself, not on what you think other people need to work on themselves.

It's not likely that you genuinely have gotten to know this person or made an actually substantial effort to do so. Maybe this person isn't good with people because he/she is scared; maybe not. Maybe this person has socioeconomic issues; maybe not. Maybe this person has never been good at making/keeping friends, so a continued effort to befriend this person would help him/her remember that someone cares; maybe not.

My point: just try to be a nice person, which most of the time, the people in our school are. However, if you don't have the energy to lift others up, don't use it to put others down. Don't make assumptions

To those who considering dangerous or life-threatening behavior.

Disclaimer: While this is mostly about suicide, many similar things can be said about substance abuse or distracted driving, so PLEASE consider the following.

Recently a student in a neighboring town took their life. While learning about probability in math class, our teacher compared (statistically) the probability of failing us failing math unintentionally given we are students at our school vs. the probability of having serious thoughts of suicide given that we are a teenager in America.

The main reason the prior has odds of slim to none is because the school constantly circulates those academic needs back to us and makes sure we know resources are available. That doesn't mean the resources to combat the latter are not available, but apparently some people have yet to be aware of or to comprehend their availability. My teacher then made it clear that any teacher, whether you have a class with them or not, is willing to talk things out. If you don't find luck, this is the purpose of this post.

Many teens that have thought seriously about suicide often have a bleak outlook on the future because of low self esteem, pessimistic views of the world, or sense of purpose not being fulfilled or realized. I would like to tell you why I want you to not take your life.

1. Regardless of whether or not you think so, you will be missed. Not only do I see your gifts and your beauty more than I do your so-called weaknesses and imperfections. There will be a sense of emptiness only to be filled with more grief and anxiety when you are gone. In the last three years or so, every graduating class had at least one person pass before graduation whether by accident or by suicide. I try my darndest to have at least one conversation every week or so with someone who misses many classes for mental health reasons because the last thing I want is to feel the sting of our principal acknowledging our yellow ribbons for you. (Even if you are not a full-time student–I can guarantee that the Hoover Dam holding back tears in my brain will not be intact.) You deserve to feel a sense of belonging to us. If you know me, please talk to me about your troubles, but if you feel like you can't talk to me, here's a toll free number to some who would want to: 1-800-273-8255.
2. Even if you have a bleak outlook on life, you still only have one chance to live it. For this, I only have one image to describe this:

3. If you have not found a purpose in life at age 13, 16, 19, 23, 27, 37 etc., guess what? That's okay! There is still plenty of life to live and an infinite amount of choices you can make. If it doesn't work, it doesn't. But that doesn't mean that nothing will work, so go ahead. Make rational, positive choices and learn from those that didn't work.

I love you. I want you to live. If you don't want you to live, any teacher would be willing to talk to you, and there are plenty of toll free number such as the Trevor Project to confidentially talk about your feelings. I believe in you. 💓

I can be insecure (whaaat?...)

I wanted to share this because I come across people that have problems with themselves all of the time. I want to make sure those people understand that many (not all) people of whom they see as confident and secure are often on a very fine line of doubt.

I appear to have a general "I don't give a butterfly's behind of what you think" attitude. Many people view me as super outgoing and confident, and I appreciate that. But though I have a lot of good days with generally good thoughts, I can't say it's like that all of the time. That's right, I doubt myself. A lot.
These are all things I've thought of myself over many days for the last three years.

"I'm not pretty enough to be a cheerleader."

"I'm far from being as good of a musician as that person, maybe anyone."

"I'm not smart enough to be in this class."

There are days where I can just pick an outfit because it makes me feel like me, but other days I stress about choosing my outfit and putting on my makeup because I want my creation of the day to be beautiful precious work in the eyes of someone else.
I can carry on a conversation at a good pace, but sometimes there are too many words to choose from and I choose the wrong ones. I fixate for hours–possibly days–on my moments of so-called "stupidity", even with members of my family.

I usually remember that I have people in my life that wouldn't trade me for any average-joe stoic, straightforward person. I sometimes feel like I'm burdening someone else with my emotional overload.

I hope for whomever is reading this to understand that as I'm writing this out, I'm thinking to myself what I'd say to another person with doubts about themselves: these things you see as incapabilities don't compare to the vast amount of great things you can do. I believe that for every person I've ever come across with self esteem issues.

Hopefully you can find a way to understand the value you put into this world. If anyone you come across feels this way, please help them realize their strength. <3