Stand Up

"Speak up even if your voice shakes."
"Stand up for what you believe in even if you're standing alone."
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        I don't know where my mind has been this past week. Between the terrorist attacks, earthquakes, college applications and doctors appointments my mind is fried. When you fill out application you have to put in your high school info, and for those of you who don't know: I've been to two high schools.
        My first high school was a public high school. They taught evolution and I do not believe in evolution. There is no hard actual evidence for human evolution. I let the teacher know, third day of freshman year I started a debate with my biology teacher. I was thoroughly convinced she would hate me for the rest of the year. We didn't actually go into evolution until a bit later, but again I shared my evidence with her in front of the class. She asked me to stay after class, I thought i was going to get a detention. She waited for everyone to leave and shut the door. She went on to tell me she was a Christian but believed that God made us evolve. Again, I showed her what I had and she told me the other bio teacher for my grade had more evidence that proved me wrong. I gave up my lunch period the following day and went into the other teacher classroom. I had my articles and papers ready to politely show this teacher she was wrong. Every single bone, skull and discovery this teacher showed me I disproved. She yelled, actually yelled at me, and told me to leave. I never talked to her again, but my bio teacher became my favorite teacher ever. We talked about God and evolution and marine biology often. My teacher helped me find colleges and gave me the confidence to continue to speak out. Unlike the other teacher she encouraged me to share what I had even though she was having trouble believing them herself. I stood up knowing I would be shot down by someone. That's what we need to do. It doesn't matter if it's your class, the bully, or a gunman. Stand up expecting to get shot down because when you do get shot down it can change your life or end your life and you need to be ready for both. I'm not at all comparing my experience to a terrorist attack or to Malala and her standing up for education. What I am doing is trying to tell you guys to stop hoping someone else will stand up, and start being the person that does stand.
           

          I spent time at our lake house this past weekend and looking out over the water I thought about those days where I had so much opportunity to speak out. Almost every day of my two years at public school I had to stand up for something. It ranged from my religion, to my friends to how I perceived school fights.  I got bullied HARD for it. I'm sad to say it's one of the reasons I left the school, but God has put me in the best school I could have ever asked for in my final two years. He has prepared me for a harder audience: college. I have no idea who or what I will face there. Only God knows and I can think I know, but I don't. I will say this to close out...Stand when your legs hurt, speak when you think you have no voice, fly when you think you're broken and hope when you are filled with pain.
This post is extremely unorganized and quite possibly very confusing, but I hope it helped someone. I needed to get my thoughts out on something.
 
Truly,
    Abby
 
 



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