I had my doors slightly opened and when I looked out my mom was directly in my vision and she was just sitting there watching TV. And I knew if that video crushed me as much as it did, I couldn't imagine what it would do to her.
I think that's where the light was turned on for me that I, I'm not gonna sit here and let their words become the definition of who I am. About a year or so after I found the video, I was asked to do my first speech for my assistant principal. I never wanted to be in front of people. She asked me to speak and tell students my story. Before I went up they warned me if they get loud or rowdy there's people here that'll quiet them down. Halfway through, when I realized I should look up, everyone was looking at me and they were so quiet.
I could see tears in people's eyes. There was a moment, there was a connection. I felt like that whole I'm different shield was just gone. And we were just one group of people. We're not victims in any sense unless we allow ourselves to be. I don't have vision in both eyes but I have vision in one eye. I might wear kids shoes but at least I don't have to pay full price for adult shoes. There's always the bright side.
You can put makeup on and you can do your hair and you can do all of these things but when you go to bed at night and you put your head on that pillow and you take the makeup off and you're stripped down to just you, what do you have? You have what's on your inside. You have your personality. You have your values. You have the things that mean the most to you. You have your dreams.
When Lizzie Velasquez came across a hurtful YouTube video at age 17 that mocked her as "The World's Ugliest Woman," she was convinced the world was just a mean and hurtful place. But in the 10 years since, she's used the hate to motivate millions of others to beat back the bullies. She's become a sought-after motivational speaker, has her own YouTube channel , is writing her fourth book, and is featured in a Lifetime documentary premiering Monday titled "A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story.
Velasquez, 27, who has neonatal progeroid syndrome — a rare genetic disease that affects her heart, eyes and bones, and prevents her from gaining weight — was at first devastated by the video.
A year later, she gave her first motivational speech when the assistant principal at her Austin, Texas, high school asked her to tell her story to ninth-grade students. At first, Velasquez worried no one would be able to relate to her, but it quickly became clear to her onstage that her story resonated with the other teens.
Velasquez went on to deliver a TED talk , where nearly 11 million viewers tuned in to hear her story. There's been no looking back for this anti-bullying warrior.
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