Author & Motivational Speaker Lynda Haines Schommer

"I asked to come speak to you today because what I went through was a form of bullying.  Bullying can be physical abuse, where you're pushed or shoved, or tripped, or hit, & it can be emotional abuse, where you're called names, made fun of, or gossiped about, like what I went through.  Both kinds hurt, & can leave scars."

"I've overcome a lot in my life.  I'm not a vegetable, like the doctors first predicted.  Jesus gave me back a sound mind, & I'm able to think clearly.  Although the doctors told my mom that I probably wouldn't be able to have children because of my injuries, my husband, Matt, & I are the blessed parents of Aleksa, 16, Arynna, 12, & Alyvia, who's 10.  But despite all I've accomplished & overcome, I'm still scarred.  Not just from the obvious physical injuries that I have as a result of my accident, but I'm also scarred deep down inside where it can't be seen, in my heart, in my soul.  This is the kind of scarring one gets from being emotionally abused."

"Having my accident saved my life.  I'm a much more compassionate person, much more sensitive to the pain others are feeling.  I'm also a much stronger person, mentally.  People still stare at me, & sometimes they have no tact, & will say things.  Sometimes they make fun of the way I walk, by loudly whispering to their friends as I walk by, "She walks funny."  Yes, it still hurts.  Yes, it still makes me cry.  But I've come to realize it's human nature to be curious, & to question.  My mom tried to teach me that many years ago, but it took the Grace Of God for me to be able to understand it fully."

"Bullying can either make you, as it did with me, or it can break you, as it has done with so many young people lately, who have been so bullied, so ridiculed, & felt so helpless, that to them, taking their own lives seemed to be the only way to get the bullying to stop.  If you're being bullied, please tell someone!  No one deserves to be bullied.  As I say in my book, 'They're no better than you.  None of them.'  You are each one so very special!  If you're being bullied, & you're feeling like no one understands what you're going through, maybe hearing my story & hearing about what happened to me, & learning how, By The Grace Of God, I was able to overcome, will cause you to realize that you're not alone!  Maybe you'll say to yourself, 'If she can make it after all she's gone through, I can too!' "

"As the picture at the beginning of my presentation shows, you & I were once the same.  Whether someone is being bullied over things they have no control over, or they're being bullied over things which we think they do have control over, it's flat-out wrong.  No matter what the reason.  There's always going to be someone who's not as smart as you, & someone tho's smarter.  There's always going to be someone who's not as good looking as you, & someone who's better looking.  There's always going to be someone who's richer than you, & someone who's poorer.  Someone whose skin is a different color, who talks differently than you do, who's disabled, who's shorter, who's taller, who's skinnier, who's fatter, whose sexual orientation is different from yours.  And there's always going to be someone who's bigger than you, who's meaner than you, who's a bigger bully."

"I hope that hearing my story & what I went through will cause you to have more compassion for others in your own life, especially if you're the one who's guilty of bullying.  If that's you, think about this:  Bullying is not just fun & games.  Bullying can hurt.  Bullying can scar.  Bullying can kill.  Is it worth it?  No, so why not just stop?  And remember, a little compassion goes a long way."

"We're all different.  And that's a beautiful thing."