Anna Rodriguez

2025 Scholarship Winner
Attending Texas A&M University San Antonio

Anna’s Essay

I've been personally affected by cyberbullying. Though, to people cyber bullying isn't "real" to them, it'll often be dismissed and won't be acknowledged until a traumatic event happens. It's tragic but it's the reality of the situation.

During my 8th grade year in middle school, I dealt with cyberbullying and bullying in person. It started with a group of boys in my biology class making faces, whispering, and laughing at me about how I "stink". It made me feel uncomfortable. As many months passed on, the situation escalated. They began taking pictures of me and sending it to their friends. It felt awful. It came to a point where I pleaded to my parents every day I didn't want to attend school. They never understood why until my dad asked me why I didn't want to go to school. I told him I've been bullied by a group of boys that have been pestering me and insisting that "I stink".

It may seem silly to people when I mention it to people but it truly made an impact on me until my adult years. I became hyper aware of people's actions around me, and I started browsing about self care and hygiene on the internet so the bullying could stop. Every day, I asked my mom and friends "if I stink?". I’m thirteen years old. I shouldn't have to worry or necessarily care about what others think.

When I spoke to my dad about the situation, he brought me to school and asked to speak with a staff member. The staff member had asked me to explain what had been happening. I described the matter of the situation and named each of the boys involved. She promised us the situation would be taken care of. Once the situation was resolved, everything seemed to settle down. Like I mentioned, it left a huge impact on me till this day. Cyberbullying and bullying isn’t a light situation. It’s real, raw and traumatic no matter the severity of the situation the person is in.