Student Identity: A Short Story

I put the mask over my face, and draped the headphones over my ears. Sliding on my gloves, I took a deep breath and braced myself for the sub zero cold. Punching open the door I quickly made my way from my dorm room to the bike rack. Fumbling for my keys I got my bike unlocked and was on my way in the freezing cold. Making my way down the path, all I could think about was the warmth of entering the building. Each pedal a desperate push to get me there. After what felt like years, I pulled up to the Rec center and locked up my bike. Opening the door, I felt the rush of warm air hit me. Like taking a blowtorch to a block of ice, I slowly was able warm myself up. Thumping down the steps I turned and swiped my Student ID. The gate opened and I was in.
This was just like every morning, I did not expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. After filling up my water bottle and stuffing everything into a locker, I was ready to go. I walked into the weight room, scattered with people’s scrunched faces as they pushed their weights. Out of the corner of my eye however I saw something that I had not seen before. A group of guys all huddled around a bench press, making jokes and giggling. I was assuming they were all friends by the way they were looking at each other for recognition as they were trying to make jokes. I

Why did I not say anything? If I was in that person's situation, I would want someone to stand up for me. That extra voice to side with you in a time of need might be all you need to stand up to whoever is bullying. I could have been that extra voice, but instead I remained silent and turned my head to someone who I could have helped. There must be reasons that I chose to act this way, when I feel like I have done so much wrong in not saying anything. One reason is I have never been too much of an outgoing person, but I do not think that that was the only reason that I did not go over and say