Kevin Chong

“There was a lot of Asian hate. There was a lot of racism. We lived in a predominantly white neighbourhood. Sometimes, it was weird. I didn’t necessarily feel safe growing up. We would get egged randomly. Multiple times a year, we would just get eggs thrown at our house and we would be like what the heck is going on. My dad and my mom would get called racial slurs by neighbours, including their kids sometimes, which is really crazy.”

“I think that this stuff is what makes you stronger. Bullying either makes or breaks a person. If you can overcome it, you will be a stronger person, but not everyone can obviously and it can be very disheartening to see people getting bullied. People who are bullied usually become the most emphatic and genuine people that care, as they know what it’s like to be at a low point in their life and to come out stronger. I thought they were probably insecure or had something going on with their life. You don’t bully for no reason, you bully because there is a power imbalance and you would want to exert your power over someone else as you want to take control of some situation, and you are usually venting some sort of frustration over someone else, as it’s the only way you learned or know how to.”

“I think I mentally became a stronger person and gained more empathy. I don’t know if bullying should be a growing point, but it is a challenging point in your life.”