I chose not to be a victim

I WAS BULLIED as a kid. Though this my story may sound like
I might be advertising or promoting a self-help system, I assure everyone I am
not.

I was not a very healthy kid growing up. I had asthma at a
very young age. And because of this, I was not very active in any sports. While
my other classmates played basketball at the end of the day in school, I was
always at the sidelines just watching them. And on those times I tried to play,

I could barely throw the ball because I had weak arms.
And in retrospect, just as sharks are drawn into frenzy at the
smell of blood in the water realize that my weakness seemed to attract bullies
in school.

During class, they would use the back of my head as target
practice for either spitballs or anything else they can throw.

There was one incident during recess, that one of the
bullies threw mud at my shirt. I had to spend the rest of my recess time trying
to wash off the wet dirt stuck on my white uniform shirt.

Until the day I finally had enough.

It was a regular school day. And I was in class. And as
usual, one of the bullies sitting two rows behind me was using the back of my
head as a target practice. Being brought up by strict parents, I was not one to
start a fight. It was never in my personality. So what I did was to go to our
class president, one of my classmate and told him to stop the bully. When I
went back to my seat, the target practice resumed.

At that point, I don’t know exactly what happened. All I
know is that I sort of “blacked out”. I remember standing up, really calm. I
walked to the bully who was shooting spitballs at my head. To this day I
remember the look in his eyes. He has that bewildered look. I swung and punched
him twice. Both punch connecting to both his left and right jaw. And I remember
him slumping down on his desk. I then just casually walk back to my seat.
The teacher who was writing on the blackboard and had her
back to us did not even realize what happened. She kept on writing and talking
at the same time.

I did not feel anything after that. After the bell rang, I
walked back to the bully and said in a calm voice, “You and I, at the back of
the school later”. And then I walked out. I waited and he never showed up. And
he never bothered me again after that.

Again, in retrospect it was because of this that I got into
Martial Arts. A few months after that, I enrolled and started going to the gym
which was right next to our school.

I thought of writing about my childhood because of what I
have been reading lately in the news. Kids in high school who have taken their
own lives because of bullying in school.

Why did they choose this recourse instead of fighting back?

For me it was a choice I made. A choice that I will not let
myself be a victim anymore.