Read Colin's heartwarming story that touched over 2 million people around the world, and when you're done reading, watch the story behind Galvanized Soul's music video for 'Carry On' that features Colin.
Hi, my name is Colin. Ever since first grade I haven’t had any friends, and the kids at school always picked on me or left me out because I was different.
For a long time we didn’t know why I was different, and the doctors couldn’t figure it out either, so all we knew was that I handled things differently than everyone else, and that made me seem weird to the other kids. It’s hard for me to know how to act with other people, and I don’t seem to understand the same things that other kids already know. And even worse than that, I used to have these big meltdowns and I’d say mean things I didn’t mean to say, or I’d run out of the classroom. They didn’t happen very often, but it was enough to make the other kids think I was not someone they’d want to hang around with.
So my birthday was coming up again last March, and my mom asked me, like she asked every year, if I’d like to have a birthday party. And I replied the same way that I always did, “There’s no point, I don’t have any friends."
My mom knew I was going to say that, but it still broke her heart. She knew that kids my age didn’t get me, but that a lot of adults loved me, so she came up with the idea to make a Facebook page for my birthday. She would invite her friends to like the page and have them say some nice things for my birthday, and then surprise me with their messages.
Apparently my story touched a lot of people’s hearts, because within a week that page had 8,000 likes on it! The local news wanted to do a story about it, but because it was still a secret from me, my mom went out while I stayed home with my dad and did the interview at a coffee shop. Within the next week, my page reached 1,000,000 likes! After being on TV, in newspapers, and on websites all over the world, the page now has more than 2 million likes.
Although my mom jokes that it was my smile on the profile picture that made everyone fall in love with me, I think that my story of being picked on and left out was all too familiar for millions of people.
I found out about my page just two days before my birthday, and it changed my life. Knowing that so many people are behind me has given me confidence and a belief in myself that I never had before. Although I still have to struggle with some bullying, I now see that having even one person who cares about you, like a mom, has the possibility to turn zero friends into 2 million.
Join Colin’s growing number of friends and like his Facebook page here [2]. Learn more about National Bullying Prevention Month [3] to discover what you can do to be an upstander and prevent bullying in your school.
We Will Carry On: The Story Behind the Video
Learn more about the Be an Upstander: Lend Your Voice campaign here. [4]