Today is National Stop Bullying Day.

As someone who was bullied quite frequently throughout my school career, I am a big advocate to stop bullying. I know what it’s like to be bullied, and I dislike seeing others go through what I went through.

It doesn’t help that I often see stories or videos of the victim being pushed to their limit and fighting back, only for people to intervene and the victim to receive a larger punishment than the bully. That is something that upsets me greatly. All it does is tell victims of bullying that they will get in trouble if they defend themselves.

Below is a video of me sharing a story about one of the times I was bullied in middle school.

If you have been bullied or are currently getting bullied, I am so sorry. You did not and do not deserve that. If I was there with you, I would do my absolute best to help you and get you out of that situation.

I hope we can all ban together and end bullying. It isn’t funny, or cool, it’s just downright awful.

– Therell

Bullying affects people of all ages. It can take a toll on your mental health. Eventually, it becomes too much for some people. Bullying also deals heavy consequences. Consequences that may never turn around. Bullying isn’t cool and I’ll stand by that.

I’m no stranger to the world of bullying. Unfortunately, I’ve always been on the receiving end of said bullying. I’ve dealt with bullying almost all my life. From middle school to high school, and even a few times in my adult life. It does not leave you feeling great at all. Honestly, it leaves you feeling broken and like you’re just not doing something right. You wonder what you did to deserve the things happening to you.

The worst of the bullying I ever got was definitely in high school. For weeks, I dealt with relentless bullying my freshman year of high school. This girl and her friends bullying me were in the senior class at the time. They made my life an absolute hell. At first, it was all verbal. They just called me names and said rude things to me. Then they started throwing sharpened pencils at me on the bus. Eventually, they even got their friends to bother me during the day too. As a result, I was miserable and it really wasn’t helping the current state of my mental health. Because of these people, I was mortified about having to ride the bus to school. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach.

The whole situation made me feel like I was stuck. There was nobody else for me to turn to. Nobody was listening to me. I was dealing with it all on my own. And slowly falling apart in the process. I decided to tell the principal what was happening. Though, telling the principal really only made things worse for me. Eventually, the things they said to me got way meaner. Then, everyone in the senior class started calling me a “snitch” everyday. In the end, I was running out of options.

Finally, I decided to reach out to my family. One of my cousins knew the mother of the girl picking on me. Apparently, she had a conversation and let her mother know what she was doing. Then the next day, the girl who was giving me a hard time, walked up to me after we got off the bus and apologized. I had been waiting for that stuff to stop for weeks. I knew I should have felt better but I didn’t. “I’m sorry” didn’t mean anything to me. After that, the bullying subsided for a while and things got a little better but I still haven’t forgiven those people or even the ones who wouldn’t help me.

I dealt with that bullying for weeks before someone stood up for me. Honestly, I just wish someone had stood up for me and kept it from going as far as it did. We shouldn’t just standby and let people get picked on. We have to stick up for them when they can’t. Bullying isn’t cool. We should be taking steps to prevent and stop bullying from happening to other people. We have to do better.

You can read more about National Bullying Prevention Month here!

Join us for a free SMART Recovery Teen Support Group on Friday’s in Fairfield, CT!

Learn ways to gain control of your life and sort through it all in the company of your peers, run by trained TurningPointCT young adults.

This is for anyone struggling with anything: stress, school, peers, family, self harm, mental health and substance use disorders, bullying, fighting, etc.

Join the conversation here: https://turningpointct.org/lets-talk/topic/smart-recovery-teen-group/

What is your dream job? Remember in elementary school when someone asked what you wanted to be and nothing held you back? Lawyer, astronaut, president, doctor, princess, firefighter; anything seemed possible at that time in our lives.
All throughout middle school and the beginning of high school, I used to dream about being a pediatric oncologist. Then, I slowly but surely stopped believing in myself. I convinced myself that that was not possible. I told myself I wasn’t smart enough, didn’t have enough time or money for school, wasn’t good at school, etc.
So, what is you REAL dream job? Is it still your goal? If not, why?
What’s holding you back from reaching your dreams?

It’s Finals! Take a deep breath… I find these songs really soothing and inspiring. Studying is stress, exams make us nervous… music can help to solve the problem.
Hopefully, these songs help to bring about the right mood.

1. Alina Baraz & Galimatias – Fantasy

2. London Grammar, “Shyer”

3. Tokimonsta – The World Is Ours

4. Tomas Barfod, Nina K., “Aftermath”

5. Fire and Rain – James Taylor

6. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain

7. Ellie Goulding – Burn

8. Fun.: We Are Young ft. Janelle Monáe

9. Milky Chance – Stolen Dance

10. Ed Sheeran – I See Fire

Relaxation can look so different from person to person, for someone may be in complete peace while listening to headbanging heavy metal music while another can only reach tranquility when meditating in a completely silent room. For me, relaxation means when I am able to sit in my rocking chair in my bedroom and binge watch whatever Netflix series I am currently infatuated with at the time without being interrupted. I would most likely be in my pajamas, because this will further confirm the fact that I have no obligation to go ANYWHERE!

What does relaxation mean to you?

Jah Cure

How do I feel about reggae music?

Mixed feelings… it’s the music I grew up listening to but it’s also a genre of music that I have distanced myself from for some time. Going back to my roots – while it channels some very great memories, reggae music also brings back very unfortunate ones.

Even so, I can’t deny my love for reggae music, it was my own ‘relax, study, sleep’ kind of music: for a peace of mind, I listened to reggae music to revitalize my sense of hope and purpose.

Some of my favorite reggae artist, if you want to check them out includes Chronixx, Damian Marley, Protje, Etana, Jah Cure, Tanya Stephens, Jimi Cliff and more popular, Bob Marley.

Protoje

For those of you heading back to school…whether it’s college or high school, we can get caught up with the anxiety of the new classes. Sometimes we magnify the situation and instantly start to question if our teachers like us, if we will pass this test, if we will be social butterflies, etc.

Sometimes when I get myself caught up in these thoughts, I force myself to stop doing my studying/work and put on a great song and dance. It’s a three minute break to be silly and relax. It helps me put in perspective that I will be okay and I can’t let the stress and anxiety take over my school life.
So, I have included a great song with a powerful chorus. One of most favorite albums is called Strange Desire, by the band Bleachers.The lead singer and song writer is Jack Antonoff. Most people know him as lead guitarist in the band Fun. and Steel Train.
I chose this song from the album because it’s all about wanting to get better. “I didn’t know I was broken til’ I wanted to change. I wanna get better!”

Ironically, the lead singer Jack Antonoff deals with anxiety especially with a phobia to germs which affected his life physically as well as mentally. He started writing music for his new band secretly while his illness started taking over his life.
I think he’s a great artist and when I found out about him, I could hear his music intertwined in other artists’ music like Taylor Swift.

Okay, so my point is, sometimes we need to take a moment and change our setting. Whether it’s going for a walk or dancing around to a great song, it is very important to take a moment for yourself.
What other ways do you destress? What would you recommend for someone to listen to for music?
I Wanna Get Better Music Video