I grew up in a pessimistic family where my parents imagine the worst outcome in a situation and that outcome would always turn out to be true. At first I thought they were psychic and that they predicted the future but that thought went away as quickly as it came. It wasn't until I started to have negative thoughts myself, that things started to go out of control.

When I started middle school, people started to bully me. There was a specific group that roamed the school. People were afraid of them because they were strong, heartless and fierce like a lion for what they have done to other students. They did really bad things, they took my stuff and threw it to each other, some people tried to beat them up, but it was a mess.

They threatened me, “If you snitch to the teacher about us, on the next day we will beat you up harder”. Then, I went back home. I spent my whole time crying and thinking about my fate. When I went to sleep, in my mind, I always thought that they were going to bully me again, I was afraid of them.

On the next day, I decided to tell the teacher about what was going on although they were going to beat me up harder if I told the teacher. But I never cared about what they said. Then, I told the teacher about those guys; they were all suspended from school for one week, plus the counselor phoned their fathers.

During that week, life was pretty good for me, however after a week, those guys came back from the suspension and they were pissed about what I did to them, they were seeking revenge. I was scared to death and they cornered me in the corridor.

Suddenly, a muscular person showed up out of nowhere and told them to stop bullying and show tolerance and respect. Unfortunately, they laughed so hard and said, “We are going to beat you both”. But, this person had amazing fighting skills. So, he fought and beat them tremendously. As a consequence, they ran away.

After that, he shook my hand and he said,“Well I am sick of those guys, they keep bullying you. It was the time to break the ground, and you should stand up for yourself because friends are not always there when you need them. Secondly, you don't get to a lot of friends without making a few enemies.” He then asked me to follow him, “Come on let me introduce you to some people who are going to protect you”.

He dragged me to the canteen and introduced me to his friends. “Hey gang, this is my new buddy. He needs someone to talk and socialize with. So, be kind and talk to him”. All of his friends then shook my hand vigorously as a sign of a friendship meanwhile they introduced themselves to me kindly. Before I started leaving, the person who brought me to the canteen advised me. "Think positively and imagine life without bullies."

That day I went home with his advice in my head and decided it must work if it worked for him. At first imagining myself with no bullies in my life, it was hard but after a few days of convincing myself I didn't deserve to be bullied, the bullies slowly went away. I don't know if they stopped because I didn't let their hateful words hurt me or if it was my positive thinking so I decided to try it on something else.

At that time I had trouble with writing and was struggling in my English class. I could never convey the information that I needed to convey and keep it within the word limit. So I started thinking that I would be good at English and that eventually, with practice, my writing would improve instead of worsen. To my surprise I would get a better grade every single paper I handed in. Now that I had this new-found fact, I used it for everything. I kept imagining my life to be amazing, filled with laughter and positivity, and it kept getting better and better. I was becoming who I thought I'd become. I still am to this very day.

Remember to stay positive, throw away every single negative thought that you get and watch your life unfold right before your eyes. Also, have a little fun with it. Try thinking of things that you'd never thought possible. With hard work and positive thinking, anything is possible.