A thing or two about bullying

Dear readers,

Recently I have discovered how bad bullying can affect someone's life. Well, I have never been bullied, so I have absolutely no idea what it feels like. And honestly, I have something very obvious that people can make fun of. I have a birthmark shaped as a cross on my forehead. Something more obvious is yet to be found, I think. Anyway, just saying, I don't know what it must be like.
My brother has been bullied for almost his whole life for a nasal voice... I don't think he has a funny voice and neither does anyone in the family. So now I'm actually writing this blog for him.
I think bullies are the one's with weaker personalities, they have to find something in someone else to make them feel alive, to prove a point. Isn't that sad? Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard? Having a strange, weird, funny, whatever voice, haircut, nose, ear, arm, leg, whatever, is not so sad as having a very weak personality.
Now, I have a quite strong personality, I think and I'm not going to lie, when I was just a little kid I have let me in with the bullies. I never bullied anyone myself, but I did walk along with those who did. For which I'm very very sorry and I know that was weak. When I grew up I understood that bullying really hurts the bullied.
My borther, now 22, is still wearing the scars of what was once told him. It's been almost 4 years now since he graduated. In high school the bullying got so bad that he had to leave school and study from home. It hurt him so bad that he even thought of comitting suicide. I knew back them that he had have these thoughts. I thought now he had moved on from the bullying, but apparently it leaves scars that never really heal. The slightest little spark can bring this feeling back. It hurts me very much that there's nothing I can really do, except from trying to talk to him. What I want to do is kick all those bullies in the guts, but that's not allowed. I'd wish I could go back to middle school and teach those guys a lesson. Let's face it, that's what big sisters are for, but apparently it never dawned on me back then. I'd wish I could learn my brother to be more proud of himself for what he is and not what he might sound like, because who cares??? My borther is a tall, handsome, very sweet guy and he deserves so much more than feeling miserable for what someone once told him and lingered. I'd wish I had some kind of magical power to make him see himself the way we do. Now he only sees what those guys way back then told him and that's not right. I'd wish I could give him some of my self confidence. I have more than enough, maybe even too much.
My brother, if you're reading this, I'm writing it all down, because I think that's the only way you might want to listen to me. Please don't do anything I wouldn't do. Please take a close look in the mirror and see yourself as a handsome young man full of life with the world ahead. I'm right there with you and I hope that you know that if you ever need me, I'll be there.

Bullying will never be banned out of this cruel world, but maybe everyone who reads this can start to make the world just that little bit better.

Thanks for reading.

 

This was it...

Dat was het dan, mijn schoolcarrière... Helemaal afgelopen. Point à la ligne. Schlüss. Fini. Gedaan.
Een hoofdstuk in mijn leven dat nu wordt afgesloten. Wel in schoonheid, want ik ben geslaagd met onderscheiding.
De aanloop naar de proclamatie gisteren verliep niet vlekkeloos. 's Ochtends kwam er al een lijst 'met slecht nieuws' online. Om iets na 10u stond ie erop. Opluchting: ik stond niet op de lijst! In de namiddag begonnen de eerste berichten zich via Facebook te verspreiden: de lijst stond er niet meer op en er was een nieuwe website online gegaan. Iets wat ze naar eigen zeggen op Lessius Antwerpen niet wisten, maar iets dat dus wel een heel groot probleem vormde voor zij die nog niet de kans hadden gehad om de lijst te bekijken. Lessius en communicatie: een driehoeksverhouding! Uiteindelijk zijn de mensen die nog niets wisten via de telefoon dan toch verder geholpen en wisten ze of ze naar de proclamatie mochten komen.
Naar Antwerpen rijden heeft nog nooit zoveel tijd gekost als gisteren... Om tien na vijf waren we vertrokken, normaal zouden we dus ruim op tijd geweest zijn. We waren uiteindelijk vijf minuutjes te laat en konden via de eerste verdieping nog enigszins geruisloos de congreszaal binnenstappen. Net op tijd om de eerste namen te horen.
Geslaagd met onderscheiding. Vanaf nu master in de meertalige communicatie. Onwerkelijk?! Toch wel een beetje!

De allerlaatste dag...

Dat was-ie dan: de allerlaatste dag school gisteren... Als je er bij nadenkt doet het toch een beetje vreemd, al denk ik dat ik het nog niet zo goed besef, maar dat komt nog wel! ;)
Nu komt het moeilijkste deel nog: aan dat 'nieuwe' leven beginnen. Al is die 'moeilijkste' misschien wel relatief, maar toch. Ik ben niet anders gewend dan naar school gaan, he, praktisch mijn hele leven (al 20 jaar, OMG!!!). Oké, het laatste semester was bouwden we al een beetje af met maar 8 uur les per week en woensdag en donderdag vrij. Een luxueuzer leventje zal er niet komen, denk ik. Hoewel we die twee dagen vrij per week hard nodig hadden om thesis en andere papers klaar te krijgen. Ik heb net mijn masterproef voor de laatste keer gecontroleerd op spellingsfouten, verwijzingsfouten, ed. Nu denk ik dat hij helemaal klaar is. Ik ben zo blij. Ik hoop dat mijn promotor dat ook zal zijn! ;)
Nu nog inbinden, daarover bestaan nogal wat meningsverschillen: lijmen zou breken bij meer dan 100 pagina's en ringetjes zouden plat gedrukt worden als er te veel scripties op elkaar liggen op het bureau van de promotor. Nu weet ik dus ook niet wat nu het beste is, dus heb ik het mijn promotor maar gevraagd, tenslotte is hij de man met ervaring, he! ;)

Om dit bericht, geschreven in het uiterst zonnige, maar toch een beetje winderige, Kapellen, te besluiten, wil ik iedereen een portie nostalgie meegeven. Het moeilijke van het 'nieuwe' leven beginnen, is eigenlijk misschien niet zo moeilijk: gewoon Live your Life (Bomfunk MC's).

Race to the finish

Yes, the finish... The final race has begun. My masterthesis is completed and the last presentation was held yesterday. Now all that's left to do is handing in a bunch of essays and of course the 'masterpiece'.
Next week is my last week EVER at school. I've got mixed feelings about it though. At one side I'm happy to be 'released' from all the school work, but on the other hand I'm sad I'm not going to see my friends every day. I'll miss them. Everyone of us is going in a completely different direction, plus we don't live near to each other. We have to make a deal about seeing each other every once in a while. Each month might be an impossible thing to do, but once every three or four months, I hope, must be doable.

Anyway, this is what my schedule looks like for the next few weeks:
May 22: evaluation of my internship at the Port Authority in Antwerp... :s Nervous!!!
May 24: handing in a paper on modality in the internal communication of BASF
               handing in my internship report
June 1: handing in a paper on forms of address in a Dutch series called 'Flikken Maastricht' (Cops Maastricht) and in a Belgian series called 'Flikken' (Cops Ghent).
June 4: handing in my masterthesis on appraisal in the communication of the new museum, MAS, in Antwerp and in press articles related to the opening of the museum.
June 5: leaving for the West Coast! My plane is headed for LA!!!!!! And then we'll discover the magic at the West Coast of the US!
June 20: returning to bloody old Belgium... :(
June 21: I'll celebrate my 23rd birthday on the plane as we land in Belgium on June 21 at 8 o'clock! I've never celebrated my birthday on a plane before, so that will be a nice experience! :)
June 28 or 29: defense of my masterthesis
July 6: the final verdict... Will I be graduating that day or will I not???? That is the question...

If I graduate I'll probably start working at Thomas Cook. I hope so... :) :)

Eline - me - Mayke - Anouk - Kathleen

This is a song Madilyn Bailey wrote for her graduation from High School, but I think it's really relevant to what we feel too. So my dear friends, while I was listening to this song I thought about how we met and how we grew up together. We had a great time I think. :) We'll be starting our 'new' lives pretty soon now, but we will always have our memories of the times we spent together. I know it sounds really cheesy, but it's true, right!? :)