2016-08-19

Beautiful Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 360 Degrees - 360 Photography (Google Trusted Photographer)

Beautiful Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 360 Degrees - 360 Photography (Google Trusted Photographer)

Introduction & Google Maps

I have been shooting photospheres (pictures that rotate 360 degrees left and right, and 180 degrees up and down) for the Google Street View app since 2016 05 28. I will not go into any further technical explanation as the focus of this blog is to expose the beauty of the City of Edmonton through 360 photography. But I also use the Google Maps app to view my summarized analytics, like views per photo.

I have shot 1,408 photospheres, resulting in 1,067,708 over-all views (758 views / photosphere) - The actual view count is actually higher but the views have not updated since 2016 08 11. And of all those 1,408 photospheres I have painstakingly chosen the top 15 photospheres of Edmonton to feature on my blog. I have also created a Google Photo Album of my top 89 photospheres of Edmonton provided in a link within this blog.

I have since become a Trusted Google Photographer and pursue this passion as a volunteer, adding photospheres to the Google Maps that the Google Car (Google's car that drives on the roads with a mounted 360 camera) can't shoot from the roads. I focus on the parks of Edmonton which receive little to no exposure.

My voluntary mission is to provide a window within Google Maps so people can see the hidden beauty and beautiful parks of Edmonton without having to go there. It is just one of my many ways of giving back to the world - and I spend many hours working very hard at it.

For those who are Google Local Guides, here are my statistics. I am a Level 5 Local Guide with 549 points.


 (1,408 photos - 1,067,708 views - level 5 - 549 points)


(Frank & Etta Wilde Park my most viewed photosphere with 390,956 views)


(Parts of Edmonton I have shot for Google Maps)

 For those who would like to see my complete work for Google Maps, the following link will take you to my Google Maps profile. 


Beautiful Edmonton in 360 Degrees - 360 Photos of Edmonton

Note: using your mouse place your cursor on the image, left click and hold than simply move your mouse to rotate the picture. 

The top 89 photos out of 1,408 pictures (Link below)


 The top 15 photos out of 1,408 pictures browse below



1. Groat Road Bridge
2016 08 17
53.535939,-113.539502

Click To View Larger Image


2. Spot 1 Footbridge
2016 08 15
53.495364,-113.590355

Click To View Larger Image


3. West Edmonton Mall
2016 08 07
53.522636,-113.626420

Click To View Larger Image


4. Downtown
2016 08 06
53.540382,-113.490938

Click To View Larger Image


5. Downtown
2016 08 06
53.541415,-113.486680

Click To View Larger Image


6. Legislature Grounds
2016 08 06
53.536672,-113.506623

Click To View Larger Image


7. Legislature Grounds
2016 08 06
53.534396,-113.506610

Click To View Larger Image


8. Legislature Grounds
2016 08 06
53.535742,-113.506449

Click To View Larger Image


9. William Hawrelak Park
2016 07 21
53.526881,-113.55111

Click To View Larger Image


10. Beaumaris Lake
2016 07 21
53.615656,-113.512994

Click To View Larger Image


11. 97 Street & 128 Avenue
2016 07 19
53.584435,-113.492152

Click To View Larger Image


12. Patricia Lake
2016 07 19
53.602442,-113.499743

Click To View Larger Image


13. North Saskatchewan River
2016 07 12
53.488737,-113.588624

Click To View Larger Image


14. Tiger Goldstick park
2016 06 16
53.541935,-113.414859

Click To View Larger Image


Tiger Goldstick Park
2016 06 16
53.544934,-113.406127

Click To View Larger Image


Thank-you for your interest in my photography, Darryl Learie
darryl.learie@yahoo.com

2016-07-29

The ramblings of a confused moral conscience

The ramblings of a confused moral conscience


It would seem that we were born into this world with no choice. We did not ask to be born, nor did we ask for the circumstances we were born into. Some will be blessed from birth and others will be cursed from birth. Unless there is some divinely inspired purpose for this, the reality is absolutely unfair and unreasonable.

  However, some time after we are born into this world we inherit a moral responsibility to others in this world. And that moral responsibility is not to further harm others by our actions or lack of..

  Every individual born is equally important because every individual is self-aware, continually thinking, and personally experiencing real emotions and physical sensations. Furthermore, the extent of pleasure or pain that can be felt (emotionally or physically) by any individual seems to be not only profound but beyond comprehension.

  Self-awareness alone (or consciousness) is the greatest phenomenon that exists in the known Universe - it is only paralleled by the phenomenon of the Big Bang (The very beginning of space-time, and existence). The true miracle of life is that the Universe itself has become self-aware, and has done so through every individual born.  

  We must respect this experience of being truly alive in others because it is also our own experience. Not only that but we all have the very same psychological and physical needs. This is my initial argument for empathy.

  Why should we be careful not to cause pain and suffering to others? Because we all share in the same reality, we all experience the same paradigm. Like the Golden Rule illustrates, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We live in a world of cause and effect, every action on our part has a potential consequence affecting the very well being of others. It is logical not to inflict pain and suffering on another because we do not desire the same for ourselves.

  When we intentionally or unintentionally harm another we have no control over just how much pain and suffering we have caused that individual. And at the fear of being redundant, the extent of pain and suffering that individual can experience can be so severe - it can be beyond what we can imagine or comprehend. It personally amazes me just how much pain a person can feel.

  Every human being has earned their right to exist. Every human being is the product of genetic material that has survived despite the deaths of many previous generations of life not selected by the process of billions of years of evolution. To go even further, the odds of you being you and not somebody else is astronomical. It requires the right sperm out of millions exchanging DNA with the right egg out of tens of thousands every time across thousands of generations of the right people.

  We as individuals are inherently valuable. But we must seriously consider if our presence is an asset or a liability to others who make up society. Is society as a whole benefiting from our existence? Of course if we go around causing others to suffer than society would not deem us as valued members of society.

  How do we know if we are good people? This is a question that continually concerns and haunts me - how do I know if I'm a good person? How do I know if my life has had a positive net affect on society as a whole?

  Am I truly a good person if I am kind to strangers, but hurtful to someone in my family, one of my friends, or even an ex-girlfriend? Have I out of ignorance hurt people in the past? Have I posted something on-line that has negatively affected others? Is my ideology, and what I believe constructive or destructive to society? Am I merely a product of my environment, and if I was, was that environment conducive to learning to becoming a good person? Is my psychopathology destructive towards others? Could I be a bad person and not know it?

  Another reason it is so critical that we do not cause harm to others is because every person has the potential to greatly benefit others in society. Therefore it is important that others be allowed to mature, and develop in the most supportive, and nurturing environment possible. To negatively affect one's psychological development could potentially have severe implications for society as a whole.

  That is to say, if we hurt one person it could inadvertently result in hurting other people we are unaware of. Because of the relationships that person has with other people and how they interact with those other people when they're hurt.

  How do we effectively measure the gravity of our actions on others? How much impact do our words truly have on others, and how far reaching are those words? How has our lives shaped future generations yet to be born?

  Society is a bee-hive, we as individuals do not survive very well on our own without support from others. Society does not work efficiently unless enough individuals fulfill a specific niche (a purpose) that can benefit the hive as a whole.

  Society requires different people of various skills, strengths, aptitudes, and personalities to appropriately achieve all the roles that need to be fulfilled for society to work. Of course these roles can take the form of jobs and volunteering efforts. That is why every person is so potentially important.

  Every person despite their socioeconomic status has something valuable to offer others; like a purposeful and meaningful friendship and/or relationship.
 
  But there are those who like parasites do what they wish at the expense of others. They cripple the very people they benefit from by their selfishness, ego and greed. Some are bullies, some are thieves, and others  simply use people for their own gain.

   Einstein said,"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile," and Socrates said,"The unexamined life is not worth living."

   What Einstein means is that the only way our life can be truly worthwhile (or have value) is if we have in some way benefited others in our life. In other words having a purpose that results in a better quality of life for others makes our own lives worthwhile.

  Socrates goes as far as saying, if you have not even taken the time to examine your own life - than your life is not worth living.

 

 

  



 

 


 

2016-05-26

Dignity and Respect (An Anti-Bullying Speech)



DIGNITY and RESPECT

It was his destiny to be born hundreds of generations down the line of life from Adam and Eve. Born one thousand, nine hundred and seventy‑three years after the birth of Christ himself. On the event of his birth, the three wise men were not there to bring precious gifts. But God himself still saw promise in this spark of life.

At the age of ten he would calmly stand in the house of his grandparents as it was slowly being torn apart from a fierce hurricane, reassuring everyone "it will be alright". He would stand witness to his mother speak of suicide. Haunted by such news he would repeatedly tell her "please, don’t do it”. He had an unlimited curiosity about the world around him. Indulging in his natural curiosity he spent his time excitedly taking apart t.v’s, radios, vcr's and some of his own toys to see how they worked.

Soon he learned of great leaders who changed the world and started from humble beginnings. Realizing that even he could, if he really wanted to, carry great potential. Rather bored by school itself, he would spend his day dreaming of how one day he would change the world in some awesome, profound way.

Unfortunately, the French revolution, the multiplication table, conjunctions and adjectives, just did not fall into his great plan to conquer all evils of the world. As a result his marks fell dangerously low, prompting his father to ingrain the belief in him that, "if you're not successful in school, you’ll never be successful in life".

Throughout his school life he would be going to many different schools across the country. Always being forced into the eerie situation of negotiating a new set of friends. Always being the new kid.

Soon after he turned sixteen his parents were finalizing a devastating divorce Consequently his mother promised him that his high school years would be in the country and that they would no longer move.

He greatly anticipated his high school life, remembering stories of d friends, have a good time and get good marks. Maybe even move onto college or even university. All of his life's potential seemed to rest on these last three years of high school life. This was his chance to be truly successful just as his father had ingrained in his mind.

Fate would very soon turn a very ugly face to him, for his inhibitions would do him no favors. Even though he was most motivated to make a legend out of his life. He was quiet, shy, easily intimidated and had a slight fear of large crowds.

And so on September First, nineteen ninety‑one his ugly fate quickly unfolded. He went on to do as he always had done, try to negotiate a new set of friends. Although he sensed something quite odd. It seemed that every time he tried to introduce himself, people seemed cold and uninterested. He thought to himself "there's over a thousand people in this school, is it possible that I have nothing in common with anyone?”And weeks started going by and there he was still alone with no friends. He had started feeling quite concerned. This had never happened to him before.

The situation only perpetuated itself, in the course of his classes the teacher would often say,” okay everyone split into groups”. And so the class would split into groups of three or four and often he would be left standing alone, faced with the embarrassment of being intentionally singled out.

He would in the course of his humility only hope the teacher would quickly assign him to any group to end his discomfort at the situation. But time and time again, history would repeat itself.

Every time the frightening words came,” okay split into groups”. There He would be once again standing by himself. His heart pounding hard, sweating and an uncontrollable blush that would cover his face with a bright red complextion.At times he tried to anticipate his move asking, "can I join your group?”But the words replied were usually quite harsh, "I don't want that goof in my group”

As months slowly dragged by he developed a fearful complex. He prayed every day to God before school, that in all of his classes in the day the teacher won't ask the class to split into groups.

The lunch bell ringing always brought a sense of relief to his worries at least for an hour. Too many times he found himself eating alone in the lunch room. So he would walk around asking others,” do you mind if I eat here?”The common reply would be "no, my friend is sitting here ", then they would laugh. He did find a group of people that didn't reject him at the lunch room table they just ignored him. And to him that was a better trade‑off.

So for the most part he would go to the library and read books. He noticed the library had chess games. He would set up the chess board and invite people to play against him. His hopes were that he could stir up a conversation throughout the game and maybe make a friend. He did manage to make two friends unfortunately neither was in his grade so it had no effect on his overall status.

His social situation still looked quite dreadful. He kept trying to build friendships with others over chess but as it would seem that he would make another friend, others would approach that person to deter them with throbbing statements like,” don’t hang with him, he’s a nerd nobody likes him "

It was severely disturbing to him that other people would almost anything to deter others from being his friend.

"These are my high school years they are supposed to be my best years”. This ideal he so much anticipated was smashed, obliterated utterly destroyed beyond comprehension.

The utter ugliness of the situation was only reinforced as people would approach him in the halls to remind him of his lowly status,” nerd, goof, faggot, loser “, and whatever other harsh label they put on him.

They even went to the extreme of spreading ridiculous rumors about him and constantly threatening him.

He found himself with no choice but to accept his ugly reality,” nobody likes me ".He realized that he was, what nobody wanted to be, 'the social outcast’.

He tried to escape his painful reality by skipping school and taking up dancing. Hip Hop and Break d thrilling thing a person could do, he thought.

Skipping school and working on dance moves soon became a habit in itself. This became a way of life to him but the situation only worsened. On the days when he did catch the school bus to go to school he would take his seat for the forty‑minute ride. The other people on the bus took the opportunity of throwing things at him, pennies, pencils, books and sometimes they would even spit on him. The pressure was building and because of all the school he had skipped his marks were dangerously low.

When school finished for the day he would be at home contemplating his pathetic existence, to take his mind off it since it was becoming unbearable he started doing push‑ups.

And so after school he would faithfully do his push‑ups in whatever sets he could handle. And of course practicing his dancing. Now his only pleasure was his push‑ups, wich he was getting better at, and his dancing.

Just after his eighteenth birthday he started going to night clubs to dance, this gave rise to a most ugly dilemma. Now he had his mother and the school authorities who insisted he did not miss school to deal with, and if he went to school he would have to deal with the students who worked at their popularity at his expense, making fun and jokes about him was the new fad.

After almost two years of this horrid situation he made his decision,” not to attend school, until they put him into another school”. For there seemed to be no resolution to his problem, at this point whenever he stuck up for himself, the threats against him only got worse.

But this was not the end of his efforts for in the last months he danced in school, sometimes he even went to school dances but was always laughed at and mocked. At one time he even asked a newly formed dance crew at school if he could join and was rejected with "you're a loser".

His last efforts did not end there for he had quite a natural gift for drawing. In exhibiting his gift for drawing to win people's approval they often seemed jealous and accused him of paying others to have drawn it for him.

Fortunately they did transfer him to another school where to his benefit there were only two months until summer. Though not enough time for history to repeat itself.

So as summer kicked in he became convinced in every which way that no matter how true to himself he was, nobody would like him. It was his reality that people did not like who he was as a person. I mean let's consider, day after day, week after week, month after month, people went out of their way to tell him,” you’re a loser, you’re a nerd, you’re a goof”.


So he contemplated his future where he would always be pushed around or stepped on and of course single all of his life. He did not want that kind of life so he decided maybe he could win people's approval by being really good at something.

His‑first obsession was his push‑ups. He kept track and started breaking all sorts of obscure push‑up records. Night after night he would try to do more than he did the night before. When he went dancing at the night clubs he would practice his moves over and over. Constantly asking other good dancers,” how do you do that?”

However to his dismay he had no talent for dancing and absolutely no rhythm. And yet his easy going humbled nature and his passionate love for dance aroused an enthusiastic approval from those in the night clubs. This new‑found approval stirred feelings within him. He decided that he would not live up to this negative image given to him in school. He would not be the wimpy, goofy nerd that he was unjustly labeled as. So he religiously practiced his dancing, and did what ever he could to build friendships with other good dancers. And every time he danced he would ask others "did I do good?”But his progress in dancing was quite slow.

After some time the real world showed him more affection than he ever had in school. Out of this and his new‑found approval grew within him a certain kind of anguish towards his past in school.

He started to look for opportunities to show those from his past that he was not a wimpy goofy nerd. His so‑called potential and enthusiasm granted him this opportunity.

He joined an inner city dance crew "The Magoo Crew”. The leader "Mr. Magoo” believed he had potential. In a short time now being "Dancer Magoo" he danced with the others on a first‑time television show,” Dance TV”. In that occasion he felt exhilarated dancing on Channel 1O.And helping his crew bring home second place in a hip hop, rap contest.

Even though he only had five minutes of fame, he thought it was absolutely the sweetest revenge one could have.

After some time his name was mentioned in a newspaper article about The Magoo Crew. This time as “Nine Nine Nine Magoo”. Not to mention a group picture of The Magoo Crew appeared in the Edmonton Journal.

And by no means was he even the best dancer but it was sweet. And to top it off he even got to be the Edmonton Sunshine Boy.

But he still kept at his push‑ups and started writing letters to Guinness. He figured if his name was in the book of world records that would be awesome revenge.

He wrote dozens of letters, with no replies until one day. Charles Servizio, who did 46,001 push‑ups in a single day, wrote him a letter.

Servizio said he was touched by the letter he received which was about doing a twelve hour push‑up marathon to raise money for charity. From that point on they would speak many times over the phone.

The record holder told him that he had heart and definitely had the potential to one day set a new record. And so doing his push‑ups became serious to him.

He pursued his hopeful ideology with personal dance demo's and updating his records until he reached the age of 25 years.

Once‑again this hopeful ideology of revenge by out‑doing those who mocked and betrayed him was smashed.

The anger within him was hurting too much, the revenge was not satisfying. He was still haunted by his past; the horror was still with him. He even had nightmares of being in class not being able to understand the teacher then the students would start to beat him with bats.

He started to realize that he had not seen those who haunted him in school for a long time. He started thinking,” What if, they never saw me in the paper or on television?”, “Who even reads the paper?” he thought.

He would always have hoped to resolve his own issue. After all they stole a piece of him, that he never could get back. His dignity and respect. How could he ever resolve his issue if he could never confront those who betrayed and wronged him?

He quickly realized dancing is just dancing. And who cares how many push‑ups one could do?

It was evident from his nightmares that when forced into a social situation, failure was his inevitable fate. Depression hit him hard, his reality now,” to be or not to be ".He decided "not to be”. He brought himself to the bravest moment of his life; He knew that there would be no turning back. He grabbed the pills, his heart pounding, his hands sweating and shaking. He swallowed all of them.

He slowly fell asleep, now God himself with the last word would decide if there was any point.

The story I told is the true story of my very best friend, a person who loves me more than anything in this world. And he is here today standing on this podium. Speaking to you.

Thank you
by: Darryl Learie 
Edited and Co-Authored by, John Thompson (Professor of English, University of Alberta) 

September 30 1998





2016-04-28

My Letters to Dr.Phil - Bullying



Quick Statistics as of 2017 02 11
Pages mailed to the Dr.Phil Show : 88
E-mails sent to the Dr.Phil Show : 64
YouTube Videos Published to get Dr.Phil's Attention : 7
Petition to get unto the Dr.Phil : 56 Signatures

Current Status : Awaiting response from the Dr.Phil Show 

Introduction

  From 2016 04 17 to 2017 02 11, I have written 64 e-mails to the Dr.Phil show. And on 2016 06 01, I also sent Dr.Phil a 46 page letter. (To view the 46 page letter mailed to Dr.Phil click the link below)

 46 page letter mailed to Dr.Phil

 46 page letter mailed to Dr.Phil

  And just to demonstrate to Dr.Phil just how determined I was to be on the Dr.Phil show, I shot a YouTube video on 2016 05 07 of myself holding a sign that read,"Please Dr.Phil, please let me share my story of being bullied, on your show #Stop Bullying." I stood and held the sign for 3.5 hours starting with 100 lbs on my back, and eventually stepping down the weight to 75 lbs, than 50 lbs.

                                         Most Determined to Get Dr.Phil's Attention (YouTube Video)

  Alas, On 2016 06 18, I also started an on-line petition asking for people to support me in sharing my bullying story on the Dr.Phil Show. I personally messaged all 250 of my Facebook and Twitter friends asking them to sign my petition or at least share my petition on their Facebook. By 2016 07 06, I received, 56 signatures. That's 56 people who support what I am doing, who believe in what I am doing.

  You can sign the petition in the form below. You can even sign it anonymously (your name will not be publicly revealed). The Petition will ask for your e-mail - only to conform that your not a spam-bot, your e-mail will not be made public, and you will not end up on any mailing lists

Below is the link to the petition;

Petition - Support me my sharing my bullying story on The Dr.Phil Show

  And below is another is anti-bullying video posted 2016 06 21 meant to get Dr.Phil's attention, aptly named,'My Journey to The Dr.Phil Show.'

                                         My Journey to The Dr.Phil Show (YouTube Video)

  On 2016 06 27, my petition (with 50 signatures) with a 5 page letter was mailed to the Dr.Phil show. You can view the petition, and the 5 page letter by clicking on the link below.

  Petition (50 signatures) with 5 page letter mailed to Dr.Phil

  On 2016 08 24, I created yet another YouTube video meant to get Dr.Phil's attention. The video was named,"Attention Dr.Phil - An Excellent Discussion on Bullying Solutions." The video was meant to show Dr.Phil that I also have solutions to the bullying problem.

                                          Attention Dr.Phil - An Excellent Discussion on Bullying Solutions (YouTube Video)

  2016 08 28, I decided to shoot another YouTube video personally addressing Dr.Phil. The video was aptly named,"My personal message to Dr.Phil McGraw - The high cost of bullying."

My personal message to Dr.Phil McGraw - The high cost of bullying (YouTube Video)

  On 2016 09 01, I even wished Dr.Phil Phil a happy 66th Birthday. I thought the extra effort of making a YouTube video wishing him a happy birthday was a nice sentiment.

 
  Happy Birthday Dr.Phil McGraw - Happy 66th Birthday (YouTube Video)

   On 2016 12 02, I published another YouTube Video aptly named, "A criticism for Dr.Phil to strongly consider". I was feeling upset that I had written 46 e-mails to the show, and have not received a single response. However controversial, I criticized the Dr.Phil Show on behalf of all those desperate souls writing the show over and over again and receiving no response. It seemed to me that the process of it all causes un-necessary anguish among the many who will never get unto the show.

                                      A criticism for Dr.Phil to Strongly Consider (YouTube Video)

 On 2016 12 13, I sent the Dr.Phil show a 37 page letter. 34 pages of that letter were a copy of all of the 50-emails I had sent to the show through the Dr.Phil website.

37 Page Letter Mailed to Dr.Phil (no need to show 34 pages that were a copy of e-mails sent)

                                           37 page letter mailed to the Dr.Phil Show

 I am hoping to get on as a guest to share my story of being bullied from grade 9 to 12, and how the negative consequences of such has affected me long into my adult life. 

  I am hoping to either be interviewed by Dr.Phil on my experience or have a chance to give an anti-bullying speech on his show. 

  The reason I want to share my story on Dr.Phil is because I have encountered much apathy and a general lack of interest sharing my story with schools, principles, school trustees, local media, on YouTube, and even within my own blog. 

  I've worked hard on sharing my story, presenting my story, spending hours rewriting while sipping on cold cups of coffee, and getting friends to criticize and help re-edit the perfect presentation. I've even spent a couple hundred dollars of my own monies to try to help promote the sharing of my story on my ant-bullying videos on YouTube.

  My basic premise is this; I want the world to know that bullying can lead to damaging effects on a person's life long into their adult years - changing who they are, forever destroying their self concept, and result in mental health issues. 

  Below are my e-mails to the Dr.Phil website (The website only allows e-mails of 250 words or less) - they explain quite a bit. I will not give up.

2016-04-04

Will Ellen DeGeneres make my dream come true ?




  Ellen is making dreams come true. On her website she asks, "Do you want Ellen to make your dreams come true?"  Yes, I do have a dream.  It is not to go on a tropical vacation, nor a chance to win cash or a chance to meet my favorite celebrity. 

  My dream requires no more than a stage, with ears willing to hear my story of survival. 

  My story is one of being relentlessly bullied throughout my high school years.  

  The reason I want to share my story is because I know intimately of the consequences to the victim when bullying gets out of control. When bullying gets out of control, victims can find themselves ostracized from an entire school. 

  When this happens a pecking order arises where others humiliate the victim to quickly and firmly establish their own social status. Bystanders, and bullies alike cease to have empathy for the victim as they become targets for public shaming, and ridicule. The victim is no longer perceived as a human being deserving of respect. 

  As a result they become threatened on a daily basis. I was told multiple times that I should seriously consider suicide because no one likes me.

  Many of those who endure this degree of hatred fail their education, and become high school drop-outs because they simply cannot endure yet another day of abuse. 

  The psychological stress and impact of being bullied is devastating. Especially in a time when the adolescent  brain is undergoing critical psychological and neurological development. And  that person is beginning to define a concept of self and their role in society. 

  Because victims of severe bullying lose out on forming meaningful, and purposeful relationships - they become emotionally stunted in their development as adults. Often they are prone to developing crippling mental health issues like social anxiety, chronic depression, and even post traumatic Stress Disorder. 

  I know because this is my story. My experiences of being bullied had led me to 5 suicide attempts after dropping out of high school, and a string of dysfunctional relationships because of my low self-esteem. Now I live on disability for chronic depression, social anxiety, and panic attacks. 

  My story illustrates the lifelong damage that can result from being bullied, and just how destructive that damage is. 

  However,  I can also speak on the strengths that I found in my adversities. Strengths that led me to become a" Guinness World Record" holder as well as a" Ripley's Believe It or Not" record holder, among other notable achievements like being in a nationwide article, and being published in 2 books. 

  I also found purpose in being an advocate for mental health issues, and anti-bullying. 

  I can also speak on what I think needs to be done to help resolve the bullying issue. 

  I think schools should be held accountable for implementing, and maintaining a strict no bullying atmosphere. There is an answer to the bullying problem, but it requires a network of school authorities sharing their strategies and successes to the bullying problem and implementing an anti-bullying curriculum.

  A curriculum that teaches that content of character and moral aptitude are just as critical as academic success.  

  There needs to be discussion among school trustees, principles, teachers, and in the classroom addressing the bullying issue. Discussions also need to take place when conflict occurs, discussions that include the bullied, the bully, and the bystander.  

  Every issue starts with awareness, then debate.  And eventually collaborative efforts to resolve the issue. Evil happens when good people do nothing. We need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

  It is my dream to present a speech on the Ellen DeGeneres show detailing everything I have spoken about. Because I want that one moment in my life where I can use what I have learned and experienced, to positively affect as many lives as possible. 

  I have written blogs, and made YouTube videos on the subject -with little attention. I have even shared my material with every school, school principle, and school trustee in my city with little effect. I have even approached schools with speeches I have written but was declined. Some schools simply told me they didn't have a bullying problem even though I knew otherwise. Others simply did not offer to work with me to create a mutually beneficial speech. 

  I believe I went through this life experience for a reason. It is my experience ,as a victim of bullying, that qualifies me to speak on the subject. My asset is my willingness to speak about my pains, and struggle. And my story provides its own new and unique insights to the bullying issue. 

  I want the satisfaction and sense of purpose that comes with knowing I did something that benefited the lives of others on a larger scale. 

  The opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many people is one thing that would fulfill my attempt of self-reward. I would feel great if I could help others.