Alicia McKay (The Beacon)
By Alicia McKay, Guest Commentary
You've seen me and my service dog around campus. I've been in class with you, waited for coffee next to you, worked in the computer lab at the same time as you. Perhaps you've only seen me across the quad as I tried to get Bo to ignore squirrels. The thing is, you at least know of me. But you don't know that I've been unhappy this past year at UP.
For this past school year, I have been bullied. It's nothing physical like you see on TV, no shoving into lockers or putting magnets onto my back brace, but it is constant and it is not okay. I have tried to reason with them, tried to ignore them, tried to go to authority members, and nothing has stopped them, and half of what I have tried has made it worse. But this article isn't about me. It's about you.
Writing this piece doesn't fix what I've experienced this year. I can't hit delete on my keyboard and just as easily erase my feelings as I erase these words. But I hope that this inspires someone to stand up for a person that is being treated unjustly. It can be as small as telling a friend to not joke about someone's African bracelet or as big as fighting against the genocide of the Sudanese in Africa. Our school has just started a plan to prevent violence, the Green Dot program. By helping anyone at all, you are being a big green dot on campus, and inspiring others to do the same.
Injustice happens everywhere, and I realize that my problem is minute in the grand scheme of things. But to me, it feels huge, and I know it's the same for anyone else experiencing problems on campus. Know that Bogart and I are there for you, even though we don't know you. Know that you can be there for other people, you can right wrongs and you can do anything you want to help people on and off campus. And to me, that's a beautiful thought.
Alicia McKay is a junior sociology-criminology major. She can be reached at mckay14@up.edu.
