Isabella Ellsworth: Miss New York High School America

BRAVE (Building Respect and Values for Everyone) is a topic that everyone should be educated on. When I think of BRAVE I relate it to a verse in the Bible. Mathew 7:12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you: do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” This verse is saying treat others how you want to be treated. I have always lived by that and will continue to. If everyone lived by this we could put an end to bullying. Others tend to bully before stopping and thinking about how it would feel if someone bullied them. ​

I have been a victim of bullying a couple times and the most recent one was this past year, my freshman year of high school. I had been friends with this group of girls since elementary school and one day they decided that they didn’t want to be friends with me anymore. They started talking about me behind my back and treating me poorly. I was blind sided because I had no clue what I did and this is the worst nightmare of a freshman in high school. Still to this day I have no reason for why they did that. However, instead of letting that bring me down I rose above the bullying, had a couple friends that stood by my side and started making new friends. Now I can finally say that I feel my small group of friends will always be there for me.

​Last year, I was fortunate enough to win the title of Miss Oregon High and now I have the opportunity of going back to nationals representing New York. Being able to spread the BRAVE platform for the last two years has been amazing. I feel that it is so important to educate the children of today’s world on bullying so that we can help put a stop to it and educate people on the effects of bullying, why people bully and much more. I recently started a series on my Instagram page called “Izzy's BRAVE Talks” and that is where I do weekly videos that focus on different topics related to the BRAVE platform. Head on over to @missnewyorkhigh to see my first video and learn more about bullying!