When I was in middle school I played for my school's field hockey team, it was great! I had made so many friends and was staying active and was really enjoying the sport. I was in the 7th grade when i first started so of course the 7th graders were the new guys and had to make a name for themselves. I was really quiet and just kinda stuck to hanging around my friends who I had known before we started playing field hockey. I felt no need to really get to know the 8th graders basically because I was scared of them, they were the big bad 8th graders so I usually stayed away. Things were going great and I was really getting to learn the rules and how to play and was getting more comfortable with the team until one day an 8th grader started picking on me. I couldn't even get one word in and she'd look at me and go "Shut up hero." or "You're so stupid Marissa." and that went on for 90% of the season. It really started to bother me, I lost confidence in myself playing the game and just in general. Towards the end of the season I was really getting sick of it and finally decided that I was going to stand up for myself. So the next time she told me to shut up I looked at her and finally told her off. She was dead silent, she couldn't believe I said something back. I felt really good about myself then and was very proud that I stood up for myself. For the rest of the season I wasn't harassed and finally was feeling better about myself. So i guess all I have to really say is to make sure you stand up for yourself. If you don't like what someone is saying to you or about you, say something to them, you never know how things might turn out.

-Marissa Heroux