Essay by Duy the Chef: To Helena, don't be so hard on yourself!

Hi Helena, I'm Duy. After reading  your story, I sympathize  with you. As a student, I had a friend who had been bullying for almost two years at school. At that time, I was the only one who befriended her, listened to her, hung out with her so I think I can understand  what you have been through.  Dropping out of school happened to too many students all over Vietnam. I know you was left one academic year behind, but please don't worry because it's not the end of the world.

Anyway, you have to live for yourself, not for those cruel people. Don't care  whatever they say, whatever they do to you, whenever they look down on you.  You should know the ultimate goal in your life is to live happily and do whatever you love to satisfy yourself, not themselves.

So please get rid off the negative thinking, spend time with someone you trust and share your story with them and I promise that you will feel relieved in the end.

I knew you have to  face a lot of pressure because your mom expected  too much from you. My mom once said to me : "I have to sacrifice for you because I need you to know about the things that I did not know, I want you to do the things that I did  not do, I want you to learn all the important things that I missed when I was at your age".

Don't be so hard on yourself, I think your mom just like my mom or any mom in the world.  She always has faith in you. She wants you to fulfill her dream in the past.

Let's look to the future! I believe you can overcome this difficulty. From the bottom of my heart,I wish you good luck!

Read Helena's essay: A sad story about me
Read Jillian's essay: Helena, let's look on the bright side!