Thank you so much for coming to our school… for the second time. Although I already knew what we were gonna go through, I was still not prepared for the emotional roller coaster you were about to put us through. Your stories are so influential and it really helped me reflect on my own life and the difficult things I’ve been through. When I was young, I experienced many things, and they were not all that pleasant… friends in particular. My friend and I were very close and we stuck together through thick and thin. We were the best of friends, but there was this group of people who’d always make fun of us and bully us and turn against us everyday. It made us feel horrible. One day, my friend could not take it anymore, so they decided to leave me alone and joined that group instead because they were ashamed and embarrassed being the one getting teased with me. Then, my “friend” along with the group, started teasing me and I felt alone. I had no friends that would support me. I know how it feels like to be alone, and because of that, i’ll never forget that memory. I’ll always remember how it felt to be alone. I was scared to be alone, and to this day, I still am because of it. Its surprising how one person can shut a person’s world down just like that. I moved schools, I had to move on. I never saw them again after that. When you asked a couple of volunteers to come up to share their own story, I was bawling with tears. There were 2 specifically who I could relate to. The one I related to the most was when someone so important in their life has left them… and did not come back. I gave that person the warmest embrace ever, and I could not stop crying after that. My friends were consoling me, and now I am happy to have the best of the best friends ever. Michael, please don’t ever stop the incredible efforts you’ve made. You have been one of the BEST public speakers I’ve ever met, and everyone else agrees. I appreciated listening to your stories. Thank you, you changed my life for the better.
