Stop and Think.

I know I already posted today, but there's something else I'd like to share. I'm apart of a club at my school called the Diversity Club. What we do is try influence our school and community to be more diverse and to try to keep bullying/racism down to a minimum. Every year on MLK Day we go to a different high school for the day, all the other high schools around our area attend also. We all get split into groups and we go into different class rooms and discuss whatever topic they have for us. This year they did it differently. We were put into groups and  sat in small circles around the gym. We did a couple fun activities to get everyone comfortable with each other and to have a little fun before we had to get into the serious stuff.

When it was time for the serious stuff they had us sit our circles and do this activity called "If You Really Knew Me". Some of you might have seen it on MTV when it aired. For those of you that don't know, it's when you sit in a circle with a small group of people and you go around circle and say "If you really knew me, you'd know..." then you share something deep. Something that you don't normally tell other people in conversations. Something personal. Something people wouldn't know just by looking at you.

Some stories weren't as intense as others. The girl next to me shared a story similar to mine. Of course, being the big baby I am, I cried. It's sad to hear what this girl has gone through and still has to go through with her mother beating her. Before I had met this girl, said one word to her, I automatically assumed that she'd be super annoying and I thought I wouldn't like her just because of how peppy and energetic she was. After hearing her story, I completely regret having every negative thought I had of her. It made me realize that I really shouldn't judge before hearing someones story.

This girl really opened my eyes today. She's made me realize that not everyone is what they appear to be. On the outside she's an ecstatic, peppy girl, but on the inside she's depressed and hurt. I made a promise to myself to not be so judgmental towards people I know nothing about. I hope some of you take this post into consideration and think before you judge.