Patsy Gomez

LEAP 2 End Bullying. Complete.

On November 14, 1995, at 4:31pm, weighing 8.2 pounds, I, Patsy Amy Gomez, was born premature by one month. I was diagnosed with many serious medical conditions due to being premature, which resulted in me being bullied throughout my childhood and teenage years. I battled through many hardships, living with a very hard childhood and having to mature at a very young age. Bullied as a teenager, plagued with real illness, broken by the loss of parental stability, I was very insecure. I became broken which lead me to become very shy, hard to get to know, and untrusting of others.

Life was not what I wanted it to be, but with the love of my father and a conviction that my dreams were important, I was resilient. Despite being in and out of the hospital and teased by my peers, I maintained a spark of courage in my brokenness that came alive when I first came to LEAP. I needed a judgement free place to learn, a place where other students would see me as an accountable, energetic, and giving young woman. LEAP became that healing place for me to grow and give back.

LEAP did not just help me find healing from how broken I was, but it also helped me to find myself, and made me into the strong young woman I am today. LEAP became a second home to me, where I felt safe to express myself with open wings. It also opened my mind to show me I can do so much more than I ever initially imagined. LEAP helped me find my inner voice, and it taught me the skills I needed to help others to find a safe place to express themselves.

Through LEAP I learned that I can impact so many people with the smallest idea, and that with one big idea I could even help the world. I had many ideas on how I could help prevent others from going through all the traumatic events I experienced. With the help of my peers, I accomplished some of them, and continue to have more visions and dreams of how I would like to make a difference in the future.

LEAP taught me the skills I needed to walk out into the big world I live in. Also, because of LEAP and the support of my father, I became the first on my mother’s side of the family to go to college. I’m now a hardworking college student and am employed part-time. If it wasn’t for LEAP and everything I learned, I know I wouldn’t be in the place I am right now. I dream of becoming a Pediatric Gastroenterologist to help others with the same condition I have and to show them that they, too, can live a fulfilling life, just like I have.