Ben Hardell is a male senior in our class. His hobbies include snowboarding, music, listening to music, and BMX. He was arrested in 2012 and has been at a police station for 2 nights. What kind of physical appearance do you have of him? Is he a black guy, big muscle, crooked hat? No, he isn’t. perhaps Mexican? Nope. He is just an average student who screwed up. So how well do you know Ben? You know nothing.
Ben has had a cruddy life. Last year, his best friend of seven years shot himself. For ben, that was the most traumatic thing to happen to him. Ben is now a big support of anti-bulling, and organizations that help the depressed. Why, because it hit him close to home, until it happens to someone close to you, you do nothing but say “that stinks.”
This is not the only thing bad to happen to Ben, he was in a` snowmobile accident 3 years ago, the gas tank broke on his leg, and his leg was injured severly. Ben knows the feeling of pain and is not afraid to keep doing what he loves. He still snowboards, he still rides a snowmobile. He doesn’t let his bad experiences deter him; yet he still knows to act and to support those who feel so bad they will kill themselves to escape the pain. Ben is strong for those who can’t be strong for themselves.
What about you? What holds you back? Are doing some type of thing for your class so that everyone feels loved? Maybe not in the same way, but what could you do? High five the weird kid, or talk to the autistic or special needs kid for five minutes. Be like Ben. don’t wait for tradgety to hit you in the gut. Be bold.