Story

My mom always told me, “if they’re mean to you, that means they’re jealous.” I never really believed that statement cause I didn’t know why the girls in school would be jealous of me. It took me years to see the truth behind her words, and I truly didn’t see that truth until I studied abroad in 2019.

Before the class session started that summer abroad, a few of the girls I was traveling with and I decided to go to Europe a few days early and stay in Paris. We all got along very well, and there were six of us, so it was kind of a miracle that six girls got along with no problems stuck in a little Airbnb! However, things changed when we got to our destination for class: London. Within 48 hours of arriving, one of the girls had already spread rumors about the other five of us. She ignored us in our flat, on field trips, and in class. Suddenly, we were wondering what we’d done wrong.

She made us believe that the entire class hated us when in reality, she was spreading the rumors about us. The bullying was so bad, we all wanted to go home.

It was awful.

By the end of the three weeks, though, the five of us had banded together so tightly, we realized why our bully didn’t like us: we had a tight friendship that she’d abandoned. We realized she pushed everyone away, even when we were trying to be her friend, and she disliked us for it. 

Sadly, some people just won’t like us. They’ll find reasons to despise our kindness and push us away. However, the upside to this was making and bonding with new friends. Had we not all gone through that challenging bullying experience, we wouldn’t have gotten as close as we did and maintained our bonds two years later. 

As this beautiful strap says, float on by the harsh words and jealous strife. You’ll come along better circumstances and kinder friends. It just takes a little swimming to find them.

Be bold,

Landri

Artist

Darren