Sarah Friedman, Unity Club Leader at Hugh Boyd Secondary School

Unity club saved my life. As a young girl in my first year of high school, I had a hard time adjusting to my new reality. I had no friends and was badly bullied to the point where I had no desire to wake up in the morning and go to school. I felt alone, scared, and unsafe. I was undiagnosed with ADD and had high anxiety at the time. I got frustrated easily, was insecure, and hated myself for feeling this way. Towards the middle of my grade 8 year, I started getting into trouble and hanging out with people who weren’t the greatest influence on me. Then, one day we had a math substitute teacher and per usual, I was fooling around in class and the teacher sent me down to the office. That is when I met the vice principal, Mr. Lancaster. He brought me into his office, sat me down in front of him, looked me in the eye and said 5 words that I had not heard in a long time, “You’re a good kid Sarah”. He then proceeded to tell me about a program in Hugh Boyd that he believed would help me adjust to high school and help me with my struggles. I was angry with him for believing he could solve everything with one short conversation and a pat on my back. I had no hope that this was going to work; he was just an adult who barely knew anything about me. That is when I met Ms. Scott, a loving, bubbly teacher who saw the good in me. One of the first people in my life who made me feel special. Because of her, I believe in myself and my ability to make today a better tomorrow. She told me about Unity Club and the kids in it. She introduced me to the happiest, fun, caring group of kids I had ever met. At first I was worried that I would do something wrong or say something that could unintentionally hurt someone. But after awhile, I made my first connection. He’s a boy, not too much older than me named Tom. Every time he saw me, he would proceed to ask me the same three questions he always asks, “Do you like chicken? Do you like chocolate? Do you like rain?” I loved hearing him pronounce my name because he always had trouble saying the AH sound at the end of Sarah. We would always laugh about it afterwards. Tom was the first person at Hugh Boyd to make me laugh, he was the first friendly face I saw in the hallways, and he was my first friend. After Tom, I met Ryleigh who happily squeals whenever he sees me and yells out my name when I walk into the room. I then met other kids like Shawn who loved to give me hugs, or Keegan who loves to show me his dance moves. I spent every lunch break in room 123. Unity club gave me a place where I belonged. Unity club reinvented me and gave me a place where I could feel safe. Although the bullying did not end for the next two years, Unity club gave me something to look forward to every day. Unity club means the world to me and gave me happy memories. Now, I get to share those memories with my sister, Gabby. I want to give a big thanks to Ms. Scott, Mr. Lancaster, other volunteers, and everyone who made this a possibility.