Elijah Kinney, 14, is a 9th grader at Magnolia Student Center. He had been a victim of bullying at his former public school, but transferred to Magnolia and not only escaped the abuse but has excelled academically as well.
The following are some excerpts of an article he wrote on bullying, and on his interest in art, which he described as “my passion, my work, and my life.”
“Recently, I was bullied because of my appearance being the tallest kid in the class. Unfortunately, I grew into a deep depression because of this. When I make art, it was my escape from the world.
I love to express myself in my paintings. Art helped me escape from negative thoughts and lifted my spirit. If I describe myself I would say I am eccentric, bold, unique, fun and weird. I have learned to embrace my creativity and weirdness in a positive way. I live to make people happy and inspire others to overcome fear. When the bullying got worse physically, the bruises were painful. I didn’t want to live anymore and never told anyone and kept it inside.
My art saved me. I guess you can say God gave me a vision to live for my dreams as an artist …
… Depression is something I am still dealing with, but support from my family and friends who love me helps me tremendously. I believe if you work hard you can accomplish anything …”
