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WRITE FOR YOUR RIGHTS: TAKE A STAND AGAINST DISCRIMINATION LA YOUTH ESSAY CONTEST
First Place Winner: Michelle Huffman, age 17, Bellaire, MI
My Best Friend
Her name was Crystal. She was the nicest person I'd ever met. She wasn't what you'd call average. She could out-run, out-joke and outsmart the best of them, even though she had Down syndrome, a chromosome disorder characterized by mental deficiencies and physical irregularities.
There were times that her Down syndrome caused Crystal great heartaches. She would go home from school in tears because her fellow classmates called her retarded and stupid.
I never once called her names. But then again, I never stood up for her either. While other people inhumanely mocked or teased her, I sat and talked to her like nothing was happening. I tried to ignore the remarks. I just kept on talking to her and hoped it would all stop. I felt really out of place and insecure in the situation. Being young, I had a lot to lose if I stood up for her. I could have been rejected too. I wasn't ready for that.
The teasing at school became so terrible and frequent that Crystal was transferred to a school for the handicapped. There she wasn't mocked. She stopped going home in tears. She was no longer different. She was the norm. She finally fit in. During those years, she was the happiest that I'd ever seen her.
In 1994, she was diagnosed with leukemia. I remember how scared I was for her, but she seemed so calm and unaffected. Along with her diagnosis came the treatments that led to the side effects. Crystal lost her hair, developed sores on her body and retained a lot of water. When we'd walk downtown or walk in stores, people stared at her and some even laughed.
It angered me beyond words, but I continued to ignore all the mocking and rude comments. She was teased mercilessly for being handicapped and now she had to deal with the glares and snickers of the people who didn't understand her disease and didn't take the time to get to know her. I hated the world for her pain.
Crystal died in 1996. The entire school attended her funeral. Everyone cried, and I felt like they were all hypocrites. They caused her so much pain, now they were coming to pay their respects? Why couldn't they respect her while she was alive? Why couldn't they make her life happier? Maybe they felt guilty for what they had done and were being remorseful. Who knows? But I do know that Crystal left a lasting impression on my life. She taught me unconditional love and that it's ok to accept people's differences.
My fondest memories of Crystal have served as tools for living my life. I've realized how even though you don't perpetrate teasing, if you don't do anything about it, you are even more at fault. So if you see someone being teased and they take it without saying anything, you should speak up for them. I am thankful for my time with Crystal. She made me more aware that discrimination is painful and wrong. Because of her, I try to befriend everyone and I stick up for people who chose not to for themselves. I believe everyone should be accepted and cherished for their differences. I have Crystal to thank for teaching me that.
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