So if you can please take the time to read over this and help me make it better I would love that. I can add prizes to those who help me.

It is a Friday as I enter my English classroom. Some others have already arrived before me, so I smile and greet them as I find my desk, the kind that has the chair and tabletop part connected. I sit at my desk as always in the front near the teacher so that I can get the best view of the board; the only problem is that to see the board I must turn my body around. Then Tom, the bully, enters the room I immediately turn myself towards the board. I should be good if I avoid eye contact. He passes by me, and I turn back to the door, waiting for the bell to ring as more classmates enter the room. I smile, “Hey Gurl!”, greeting my friends as they walk-in. The bell rings, high pitched and annoying but, gets the point across.

Mr. Smith, the teacher, begins the lesson on short stories, which I am already familiar with, so I fade in and out of the lesson. We are about 5 minutes into the lesson when I go to take some notes. Turning around Tom is sitting across from my desk, giving me a bad vibe with his snarky smile. I take out my red notebook, which has a strip of Rainbow Duct Tape stuck to it and stickers of penguins, and pencils setting them lightly down. As i was opening it, Tom whispers, "You're so gay." It catches me off guard. I have a moment where time seems to stop and assess why he would say that. Does he say this to me because I have rainbows and penguins on my notebook? Is it the way I set things down, in a calm and neat fashion? Maybe it's my lisp when greeting people as they walked in the room? Or the words I said to my friend? I then snap out of it.

"No, I'm not.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I look down at the paper and begin writing, but then stop and sit, crying inside wanting to yell at Tom for what he said, clenching my fist and trying to keep the tears from emerging out of my eyes. I am then called on by the teacher which of course I'm not ready to answer any questions at this point. I turn towards Mr. Smith, and I can tell as soon as I look at him he just knows, and he asks, "What's wrong Cameron?" I want to tell him everything, but I don’t I just start to cry, and choke out, "I'm going to the nurse." Running out of the class leaving my things behind.

I walk towards the office, but I stop halfway there and start to wander the school grounds, making sure that I don’t get caught be any teachers or administrators. Walking around helps me relax and get a level head, I still wanted to yell and scream but, I knew that it would do nothing but cause more trouble for me. I check my phone seeing as it is five minutes before the end of class, so I head back the long way. As I walk into the class, just a minute before the bell, Mr. Smith says "Cameron. I would like to have a word with you before you go." The bell then rings. Everyone in class then gets up and heads out the door, some snickering as they walk past me and Tom “accidentally” bumps into me and doesn’t say anything. I collect my things up and put them in my backpack and stand by the teacher’s desk as we wait for everyone to leave the class.

Mr. Smith starts by saying "Where did you go when you left class?” noticing that I didn’t have a nurse’s slip or any paper slip for that matter. I begin to say something, but I don’t as the emotions from earlier start to creep back into my head. For some reason, Mr. Smith can tell something is wrong and asks the famous words, “Is there something wrong, are you okay?" Ugh, those words, said by so many, but would they understand what I am going through, they aren’t me so how would they. At this point, the emotions are at 90%, and that questions set me off. "No, I'm not okay. I have to deal with people like Tom on a regular basis, and it hurts whenever he is bullying me." I am crying now wiping the tears as fall from my puffy red eyes and sniffling every so often. "Would you like to talk to someone." He says. I take this as in he doesn’t know how to help me and I reply, "No, I will get through this on my own, this is something I need to get over. I always do anyways." I sniffle one last time and put on a fake smile, holding back any other tears. I head out the door and to the buses.

There, I told my story, so now that you know how someone’s single story can affect you. Now you can understand how I got my reaction to those words, "You are gay." I still hear them till this day, they have been said to me repeatedly. So, I have built of this guard, and it doesn't bother me anymore, as it did before. Also, I wish that the teacher would have done more in this situation, I hoped that he would have followed up on the conversation and escalated it. But, some people are always going to stand by and do nothing. If you see someone needing help in their lives, please don’t be afraid to get involved. Just how others viewed me in a single-story lens, I have viewed others the same way.

Now you know that everyone is not perfect and we all make mistakes, I have put stereotypes on people with disabilities in such a lens. In my eyes, they were more than just not perfect they were beneath me, I wouldn’t talk to them or try to interact with them. I would go out of my way to avoid them all together. I thought that they should be in the school make for them and not in a school like mine, that they were taking up space for others not like them. I have even denied help to someone with disabilities. Well, the stereotype about people with disabilities starts way back when I was in Middle School.

I had just started 8th grade, I had the perfect schedule, and everything and nothing could make it wrong, but then a new student joined our class. Accompanied by a tall, slender man who was his helper, at the time I didn’t know until later. This boy was in a wheelchair and slouched over almost as if he was laying his head on his shoulder. I was disgusted by the sight of him and wanted nothing to do with him. I grew up with the news and reading the internet, and that changed my perception of how I viewed people with disabilities. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just learn by himself without the helper or why he got special treatment just for being disabled. The one time I ended up having to talk to him was when he needed a piece of paper. I refused to give him one even though I just bought a packet of paper the previous day. I felt like he knew I had people and was about to ask for it again, but I turned my back to him, so he didn’t ask again.

I now know what I did was wrong and how viewing those people that way when I was younger was the wrong way of thinking. I have had this way of thinking since about four months ago. I was outraged by individuals with disabilities until I took a diversity class and changed my view on the world. In chapter 7 of Human Relations 7th Edition, the book for the class, it talks about being less judgmental and stereotyping people and opening your eyes to caring more for people. At the end of each chapter is a self-assessment and this is what I got from it, “The end of the chapter self-assessment taught me to improve everything in the assessment. I feel that I am very judgmental of certain people that are different from me. The steps I will take to fix this is by changing how I see certain people in life. I need to change my view on people with disabilities mostly of the mental kind. I also need to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves (Final Project Page 3).” In seeing that I have been viewing people in this world through a single-story lens, has caused me to change making me feel better about myself after I stopped being so judgmental and stereotyping people and focused on other things in life.

In conclusion, having been on the receiving end of a single-story lens is not a good thing, it hinders a lot in one person’s life. It can also, affect their lives in other ways and you just don’t know it. Also, being someone that viewed others in a single-story lens makes you feel bad about the actions you did and not knowing if it might have caused more damage than you did. I would say be mindful of what you say to others and how you act towards them and if someone is crying out for help pay attention. Don’t be a bystander, do something about the situation someone is in, no matter how small or big the problem is. If you feel like you need someone to talk to or help you through things, there is always someone to help, and you are not alone.

I noticed a few typos there.

I thought that they should be in the school make for them. Make should be made.

I felt like he knew I had people. People should be paper.

the rules of subeta say that you must specify your prizes.

Your essay is a great wall of text. Your opening sentence tells us nothing about what it is about.

Hi there. At a glance I have one basic suggestion. Give it some thought yeah? Essay writing can be tricky but the earlier you start getting the hang of the components of one, the easier it will be as time goes on.

Essay format is necessary if that is the criteria for your assignment. There are many different examples of this on the internet, but this is a basic one I typed up for ya. You can find something far better suited for your needs depending on what kind of an essay it needs to be. But! It's a starting point.

Paragraph 1 (introduction) 1st sentence hook on topic to grab attention. Introduce your topic briefly. State your thesis strongly. 5 sentence minimum.

Paragraph 2-4 (support) Each paragraph with a separate point you make to prove your thesis. Each paragraph of the essay following the guidelines of: Intro sentence. Min. 3 supporting sentences. Conclusion sentence.

Paragraph 5 (conclusion) Rephrase your thesis somewhere here and sum up your paper in solid phrasing.

Right now you have two stories that you've melded together in the story format to demonstrate your intention. Re-read your assignment guidelines (and share what they are if you'd like more specific information?). If it says 'essay' then I recommend restructuring and writing a focused thesis. Good luck! <3

It would be helpful to know what the original prompt/assignment is, to get an idea of what you are really trying to say. Is this a reflective or personal essay? If the assignment is asking for a more argumentative paper, then I think you should definitely restructure your essay to fit 's outline guide.

I also noticed that you have two ideas going on which seem a bit clashing. Which is your main focus--the bullying, or the "single lens" perspective with your reflections about disabled people? Assuming that the major point of the essay is on the second part, I would suggest developing the latter idea more, and not focusing on the bullying anecdote. Of course, the incident could be a lead-up into your main point, but you should trim down the details and just stick to the solid aspects about the bullying that lead into your main essay. As in, don't put so much emphasis on extraneous details like the description of your desk, or that the bell ring sounds annoying, etc. Unless it is essential to what you want to get across, leave it out. Unless the assignment is supposed to be a personal essay or more creative paper, I would cut down on the story-telling in general.

Also, I would be careful with overgeneralizing. There are several blanket statements that I find problematic. For instance: "Now you know that everyone is not perfect and we all make mistakes..."

Yes, this is general common sense, but at the same time, you are putting this statement directly after your own experience with the bullying incident. With only a limited perspective (your experience) as the context, it's a bit much to impose this worded statement onto the reader. The tone of the sentence is a bit scathing, as though you are implying the reader is ignorant or unaware of the fact that people are different, etc. (I could be wrong though, so please don't take this as a personal attack. I am simply responding to what has been written down.) I would just cut out these kinds of general statements. Limit your discussion to your own response/reflection on the "single lens perspective," and what it means to you.

In short, narrow your focus. Cut out whatever is unnecessary, and only stick to what you really want to get across, which I assume is your reflection on the "single lens perspective." If you are trying to develop an argument, make sure to get your focus/argument/thesis down early on.

Sorry for the wordy post... Hope this helps.