Being bullied and doubted compared me to Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps and I have several things in common. We both have ADHD and we both struggled with it early in our childhoods. I was bullied for it, and I am sure Michael was, as well. But the biggest thing is that his mom and my mom were both told the same thing. “Your son will never be successful in anything.” Except for me, I was told that to my face by both of my second-grade teachers, which in my opinion were bullies because they would verbally abuse me every day that year. I am not sure if Michael was also told that to his face, though. But anyway, yes, when I was just seven years old, I was told that I would never find success because I wasn’t mentally fit enough and I simply was not smart enough. There was one thing about one of my bully teachers. One of them would NOT only make fun of me herself, but she would go as far as even encouraging the other kids to do it, too. She’d even call me a retard. As sick as it is, it’s the truth. As God as my witness. The way I see it is that the teacher did this to me because she knew I could not fight back and I was too scared to tell. Yes, she made fun of me and bullied me half to death because of my ADHD. A disgusting act of a human being. Picking on and verbally abusing the learning disabled kid knowing he can’t fight back or defend himself is a disgusting act for a human being. The same thing with my other teacher, except she would simply allow the kids to bully me while she would ignore it. If I was to complain to her, she would simply say, “Quit being a baby, “ or “I don’t want to hear it,” or even, “I don’t care,” and from time to time she’d push me away from her desk while others would laugh. I remember one time when I had yogurt squirted on me and nothing was done about it. I’ve even been pushed down the stairs in front of one of the teachers, and she did nothing and instead, she grabbed me by the shirt, pulled me up, and said, “Stop your crying,” while the entire class laughed and mocked me. I know for a fact that she took pride in seeing me in pain. Both teachers took great pride in hurting me. Yes, even today, I am pained. And, of course, without a doubt, they’d deny everything today. That’s no surprise. But it’s okay, I am sure Karma will take care of it if it. Karma shows no favoritism. But if they are still happy for what they did and they’re unapologetic about it, then that’s fine. They can be that way because I am strong enough to prevent the pain they inflicted on me stop me from achieving success in my Journalism career. And furthermore, they don’t belong in my life anyway.
Fast forward to 2016, I find myself graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. I had finally done it. After working hard my entire life, I had something that I had worked the hardest for. And I am proud of that. I’ve accomplished a lot in my life, and I’ve still got many great things ahead of me. Overall, just like Michael Phelps, I worked hard to find my success, and I am still working very hard every day to find even more success just like him. And I will never quit because quitting is something I’ve avoided my entire life. A career in the field I work in is very difficult. It’ll take years for me to get my big break. But I know it will arrive as long as I continue working very hard. Truth be told, there’s no such thing as an easy job but if you work hard enough, you’ll overcome more than you know. Michael Phelps and I went through a lot to get where we are in life and where we’ll get in the future. At the point, I am building my career and honing my craft. And I will continue to do so and I will make it. I’ve been proving critics wrong my whole life. I never stopped. I never will. I will never let those cruel, disgusting and evil words spat on me by those two teachers stop me from becoming a successful sports writer/commentator. I will never give up on my dream. Bullying knocked me down, but I got back up and I am still on my feet stronger than ever.