"Being a woman means being a role model. A woman can be anything that she wants but every woman alive is a role model for the women of the future and a legacy from the woman from the past, What we choose to do with these roles is up to us but for me, I want to be strong and caring and someone my nieces and mother and grandmother are proud of. I am a woman and what I want to be is a positive force in this world, even if my influence doesn’t touch everyone, I can be a role model to help the ones I love.
A single word that describes me as an individual doesn't exist. I am so many things that using just one word would not do me justice. I am musical, I am creative, I am enthusiastic and empathetic and so many other things that make me the wonderful person that I am. One quality that I'm proud of is my empathy. I've been through a lot of bullying and ill treatment in my life, I've struggled with depression and anxiety and a lot of self hatred. All of those things can easily make a person cold and apathetic. Instead, with guidance from my mom and grandma, I've used it to make me more understanding of other people's pain and sorrow and that's allowed me to help people I care about in times of need and even total strangers that I happen to just strike up a conversation with.
The advice I'd give to other women is definitely to know the difference between the people who actually support you and may give you constructive criticism to help you become even more amazing and the people who say they're your friends but are really mocking you. I wasted so much time trying to please the kids that made me hate myself because they called themselves my friends. All it did was cause me a lot of pain. But when I was a teenager and I found real friends that loved me and supported me, I became a better person and ended up very confident and much happier. And now I try to support people and show them love no matter who they are. Friend or stranger. Because instead of making someone feeling inferior for how they look or talk or something silly, I'd rather lift them up to be as amazing as I started feeling when I realized that people who love you will help you make positive changes in your life to improve your life while fakers will try to change you because they don't think you're good enough, and you are. You definitely are good enough.
Something I love to spread awareness about as not just a woman but a person is bullying. So many kids go through bullying and every year it only gets worse. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among young people which according to the CDC, adds up to about 4.400 teens per year. For every single suicide there are at least 100 attempts that are thankfully unsuccessful. Over 14% of high school students admit to contemplating suicide and almost 7% admit to actually attempting it. Bullying victims are up to 9 times more likely to consider or attempt suicide that non-bullying victims. At bare minimum 50% of all teen suicides are caused by bullying. According to the same study that proved half teen suicides are caused by bullying, harassment, and pressure from society they endure because they're seen as imperfect. Also a staggering 30% of students of all ages are the victims of bullying and a shocking 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because they are so scared of their bullies that they can't bring themselves to go to an institution that claims they are safe in. The biggest lie told in schools is bullying will not be tolerated.
Having been the victim of bullying myself, I know exactly how that feels. I would get my lunch money stolen, I'd come home with shoe prints on my back from other girls kicking me. Once I was bitten in the stomach so hard I had teeth marks scabbed over and another incident happened where my head was slammed in to a water fountain. I lost consciousness, had a concussion, and my face was cut open on the side. The school nurse had o tell me what happened because I didn't remember. My mother had to threatened to call the police to get my school to do anything about it. And all of this doesn't include all the times I came home from school sobbing due to verbal harassment. No one should have to go through this kind of treatment and no one should be made to be so afraid to go to school and no one should be made to feel that they are so ugly or offensive or unwanted that they need to take their own life. If you want to save lives, stop the bullying. Speak up, empower each other, show love and kindness to the people who need it. Stop hating people for being who and what they are. Save our children, siblings, friends, and anyone you can by showing them love. Sometimes all it takes is one person saying no to hate and it can start something wonderful."
Jena Korby
Age: 26
Occupation: Specialty sales associate
