Sara Cole

UWRT 1102
2/12//15
Finding a Way Out
Have you ever wanted to go away and leave a world full of hate and
manipulation? We call it our happy place and no one or anything can destroy it unless we let
them. My place of peace was always my room. It had my stuff animals that I cant sleep with out
and my fuzzy blankets that engulfed me every time I wrapped myself up in them. It was the best
place I could be. It was away from the fighting and name calling and abuse that always was there
waiting for me outside my door way. I could feel the pressure building up against the door, but it
never broke through because it was my place, not theirs. Everyone has a place like this right?
Well, my younger brother doesnt know the difference between his happy place and the world we
live in. Of course he is a smart kid, but he learns differently than you and me. He isnt able to
stop the outside world from attacking his own world. He finds himself drowning in a pool of
grief and I feel like I am the only one that is brave enough to reach out and save him. I feel like
we should all do something that would make this world happier and more peaceful. Even if its
just saying stop to a bully or befriending someone so they are not alone. I have realized that what
happens to another person that changed their lives could be so small to another person. It is sad
that it doesnt affect people the same way, but my brother being bullied has affected him in the
long run and as far as I know, being a bully did not negatively affect someones life.
When we were younger he always looked up to me because I was his protector from the
evil demons that roamed the Earth. As we got older he still looked up to me, but not in the
same way. People seemed more heartless as we grew up and I felt like I had to be his shield from
them. I had to be the one taking all the name calling and bullying so he couldnt feel that pain. It

seems silly, but it worked for a few years. When I see someone getting picked on or being
harassed I have a need to stand up for them. I am the compassionate one in the family and I am
the one that would do anything for anyone. Being my brothers hero is just a step closer to stop
bullying of anyone who cannot defend themselves. What helped shape my opinion was how I
was raised because we are such a close family that we would do anything for each other. My
brother and I are the only ones that have the same mom and dad and we are very close in age so
we are closer to each other than the rest. Also, I usually stand up for the defenseless or innocent
because they cannot help themselves most of the time or just dont know how to act in violent
situations.
When we were at a summer camp, he was playing in the sand and I was across the field
playing volleyball. It was a really hot and dry day and I remember he wanted to stay in the shade
and make houses in the sand. He didnt want to get burned by the sun anymore. It didnt matter
to me, so I let him go off and I enjoyed my time playing with my friends. All of a sudden I get
this queasy feeling in my stomach and I looked over at my brother. He was innocently playing in
the sand, but someone around my age, lets say 12, and was walking over to him. He had a
permanent scowl on his sunburned face and his red orange hair looked like his head was on fire. .
We have had problems with this kid before like him laughing at my brother every time he saw
him or just accidently kicking water into my brothers face. Something about his pace told me
that this was going to be more than a snicker or a splashed puddle. I saw him kick my brothers
sand castle down and stomp on it. I started walking across the field. It felt like he was a mile
away. Then I see this kid look down at my brother and kick sand in his face. I start running now.
I felt fire build up inside like never before. I cannot believe someone just did that to him! He is
just a kid! As I approach, this delinquent has my brother by the collar of his shirt choking him

and throwing him around like he was a rag doll. When I saw my brother getting violently
attacked by someone close to my age, I was so outraged that someone so young thought it was a
good idea to hurt a little boy. It was amazing that his parents put a thought into his head that it is
okay to hurt someone or not correct him when he hurts someone. Then I heard the words
Someone so retarded like you shouldnt be alive. I was hit by that R word so hard that it
almost knocked me down, but my baby brother was reaching for me now. He saw that I was
trying to help him. This is when the kid saw me and asked in a horrible, raspy voice What do
you want little girl? Just to note, I do not believe that violence is the answer unless there is no
other way to get the message through and that would be the VERY last option. I learned that it
will not help anything in the long run, it just builds up tension between the enemies. This
moment was an exception because without any sort of hesitation I kicked him in the knee so he
would let my brother go and I punched him in the nose. I have never felt this much anger toward
anyone before. It was the worse feeling I could ever feel. It was pure hatred towards this person.
Now that I think back, it could have made his home situation worse because I didnt know his
story or what happened to him, but I couldnt believe that someone could hurt anyone like that.
I yelled at him What did he ever do to you? He was just playing in the sand! How dare
you touch MY baby brother? As I kept talking I got angrier and angrier. I yelled And you had
the nerve to call him the R word? He is not worthless. How can you be so ignorant?
The bully thought that he could over power both of us because he was bigger, so I am
guessing that he underestimated me. He was on the ground now grabbing his nose which drew
attention because I was standing over a boy who usually towered over me. He was about to get
up to hit me back when my brother ran up to him, kicked him in the leg with all his strength and
says Leave my sister alone you big meanie head! I saw the spots where his tears were, and my

brothers face was purple. The way we were brought up, we have been taught to stand up for
what was right and to back down when we have done something wrong. It is a great way to stay
in touch with your beliefs. So when he stood up for me it made me realize that one day he
wouldnt need me anymore.
Finally, a grownup was involved. It felt like ages, but it was probably a little more
than five minutes. It was amazing how time slows down when you are full of rage. They were
surprised to see me there in the mix, but when they saw who it was with they understood. He was
someone that got into trouble for bullying a lot or just being hateful. After the bully was taken
away I grabbed my brother in my arms and gave him the biggest hug in the world. I still
remember this part like it was yesterday. I remember him saying, Sissy, when I get bigger and
stronger than you, I am going to be your super hero because you are mine.
When I go back to that day I dont feel that hatred that I felt towards him anymore because in his
mind he thought he was right and I need to accept that some people are like that. We are all
judged by how we act and based off of how this boy acted towards my brother I think he grew up
in a hateful home. Thats why I never judge now because I dont know a persons story. There is
no excuse for bullying, but it would explain why he acted the way he did. We are brought up on
different beliefs whether it be very religious or based on old tradition. In my family we are not
very traditional, but we believe in Christianity. This is where my pacifist, non-judgmental side
comes from, but when someone hurts someone I love I feel like I need to take action. We both do
not like to think about anything negative because we have been taught that it has happened, it
made us stronger and we need to get over it. I helps out sometimes, but other times we like to
talk about our problems and keep it a secret between us. For the bully, I dont think this affected
him in any type of way because he wasnt permanently punished for what he did.

My brother is different now because he used to be this happy boy that wanted to be
around friends all the time, but after years of people like that red head, he has become secluded
and doesnt like to go outside when others are out there. We went to different school because I
was more advanced than him and he needed special classes to get what he required so I couldnt
always be there for him. It makes me sad to think that people think it is ok to harm others that
they see as the weak. Now that I am more mature than I was when I was in elementary school
and seeing that I am a pacifist, I wish I didnt punch him in the nose or kick him because that
showed my younger brother that it was ok to use violence to solve a problem. I could have
brought an adult into it to stop it so it would have been handled for a long term period and not
just a week or two. Of course the bullying stopped after I interfered towards my brother, but he
was harassing other kids. My perspective has changed from anger and hatred to sadness and
remorse for the bully, because he might have grown up in a bad home and he was insecure about
something.
This camp fight made me realize that all bullies should think about the long term
affects their actions can have toward someone. There are too many examples of negative
outcomes from constant bullying like suicide, exile, depression and people becoming recluses. It
is amazing how people think that name calling isnt a big deal or the occasional shove, but what
seems so small to you could mess up a persons future. An opposite affect can happen too. If you
just say Stop to someone bullying another, it could make the biggest difference in their life.

My reflection
When I started this essay I thought that it was going to be easy and just write about a story
and then analyze it. I was so wrong about that because I had to make everything flow nicely and
try my best not to make it choppy and horrible. It was harder to do it in sections at first, but when
I finally got the hang of it, it was really simple. I just had to re-word some things and try to
weave my analysis in and out of my essay. It made the length easier because if you told me to
write a five page paper about an argument that I had and at the same time analyze it, I would
procrastinate to the last week, freak out and break down. It was easier to break down the story
and analyze it from different times and perspectives. It is similar to a paper I wrote in 1101 when
I had to write about a group, because I had to analyze the group at different times and write about
what I learned.
The most significant fix I did was make my argument a lot clearer. My argument was
something that seems so small to a bully can affect someones life in the worse way. I also tried
to make it flow as much as I could and I didnt want to just have my analysis at the end of each
paragraph, so I weaved it in the story. Hopefully, I did that successfully.
My peer review and conference helped me a lot because I got other people prospective on
it instead of just mine. It helped me realize mistakes that I did and what sounded too repetitive. It
also helped me find an audience so it was easier to write about my argument. If I had more time
on this paper, I would make it flow more and make it longer because I would add more detail. I
love detail and having people picturing what happened instead of telling them so I would be
more descriptive. I would also not sound so generic. I feel like if I dont add my personality into
a paper I sound like a robot.

The hardest thing about this essay is to write something personal, but not having people
feel badly for you or my brother. I wasnt going for that, I was going for an eye opener. I wanted
to say that this is what could happen if you act like the red headed kid did. Even name calling
can be traumatic. Im happy how it turned out though because I think I got my message through
without doing over kill. Im happy that I was able to finish this without it sounding bad and that I
was able to flow everything together. I was having issues doing that in the beginning, but after
you helped me get my argument together and I came up with ideas, it was a piece of cake.