- When you were a kid,
what did you want you want to be when you grew up?
- I wanted to be a police officer
because all of the bad in the world
was making me sad, I guess.
- How do you usually spend your day?
- I usually like waking up and going on my phone
and then going out with my mom or my little brother,
and then we go out to eat when we don't have school.
- When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.
I was a big Peter Pan fan, like the concept of flying,
and astronaut was the closest thing
into the reality of being able
to kind of float in space and fly.
- What about you?
What do you wanna be when you grow up?
- Well, I really like the medical field, like surgery,
so I wanna be like a neurosurgeon or a biomedical scientist.
- [Brenda] Oh wow.
- What's your opinion on bullying?
- I think that our society has created
a very bully positive culture
and that there are plenty of ways for people
to get away with really hurting each other.
- Were you ever treated unfairly because of who you are?
- I remember being in like fourth grade,
and there was these kids cracking jokes
that were not really appropriate
and they were very racist,
and at the moment, I laughed at it
and I didn't think that it was anything bad,
but then, now that I think about it, now that I'm grown up,
I think about how bad those jokes were
and how insensitive it was.
- It's a terrible thing to watch,
and it's a frustrating thing to know
that just is constantly existing
and there doesn't seem to be much that it feels
we can do about it.
How about you?
- I feel, actually, the same way.
I've been a target of bullying,
but, like you, not to a crazy extent.
I have gotten injured because of bullying
but only about once or twice.
But I feel like bullying shouldn't even exist
because there's more ways to solve your problems
other than hurting other people or making fun of them
because of what you've been through.
- What I would tell somebody if they were struggling
with not feeling that they fit in
is that don't pay attention to those people
who are trying to bring you down
because in the end, as long as you're happy with yourself
and you're true to yourself, you're gonna be happy.
- What were you bullied for?
- I was mostly bullied because of my height
and my mental problems, like my ADD and my ADHD.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's just hard to believe that people think
that I'm sick because of those,
but what I think they are is it makes me a superhuman.
- What I would suggest, embrace who you are.
Don't be afraid of what people think.
You will eventually find people you can be surrounded by
who love what you do and love you for who you are.
- Everyone kind of comes out in their own way,
and I think I was a very fortunate case
in that I was someone whose family was accepting
and loved them and it was not a difficult process,
but for some kids, it's a matter of getting kicked out
of their house, it's a matter
of not talking to their parents again.
Okay, Parker.
I think you're 15.
I think you are African American
and you have like longer swoopier hair,
not Justin Bieber-esque but a little swoopy.
You definitely don't have any tattoos.
- I think that you're around 14.
I think that you're race is white,
and I feel like you have medium to long hair,
and then I feel like you're five-two.
- I think you're 16, Caucasian.
I think you have a tattoo on your arm,
short brown hair and you're wearing a very colorful shirt.
- You're around the age of 13 to 15.
You're European.
You have hazel eyes.
You are five-four.
- Oh my God.
- That is not how I described you.
- I said you were five-four.
- I'm five-three.
- Oh, I was close, I was close.
- You were really close.
- I'm five-five.
- Oh my God, you're so tall.
I said you were white, which is not true.
- I said you're European.
Is that?
- No, I'm Mexican .
What ethnicity are you?
- I'm Vietnamese.
- Oh, oh, that's awesome.
How old are you?
- I'm 13.
- You're so young.
I'm 17.
- [Vivian] You're 17?
- Yeah, I'm going into college.
- Really?
- I'm outta high school, yeah.
- What's up, buddy?
- 'Sup?
- You're so young.
- You guessed I was 15.
I'm actually 12.
- You guessed I was 16, and I'm 22.
- Oh!
- Yeah, I have already been to college, so yeah.
You're not African American.
You're white.
- I am vampire white.
- You're vampire white.
Yeah, I am rather white, as well.
I have no tattoos.
I have the lowest pain tolerance of anyone,
so there is nothing on my body.
- Same here.
- Yeah .
Except for my ears pierced, which I passed out
when they did that.
- I'm really bad at assuming people,
but it kinda shows that you can't really.
- Assume.
- [Vivian] Yeah.
- I know too.
- It was like totally different than what I thought.
- I'm 10 years older than you,
and I feel like we had pretty much the same opinion
on a lot of things.
- We both knew a lot about the LGBTQ community,
and I'm actually bi.
- That's awesome that at 12 you are confident enough
to say that out loud and on camera.
That's super, super great, dude.
- I'm really nervous about it, also,
but I sometimes when you have to say it,
you just have to say it.
You can't hide something forever.
- [Blake] Totally.
- Alright, it was so nice meeting you.
- It was nice meeting you too.
Well, I wanna congratulate you on graduating.
Also, good luck in becoming.
- [Brenda] An adult.
- Yes, an adult.
- And adulting.
- Can I have a hug?
- You can.
- Yeah, we can.
- [Vivian] Hugger.
- Alright.
♪ SoulPancake ♪
♪ ♪