Youths share stories of their struggles

SYRACUSE — Fourteen-year-old Tim Morrise said he could handle being pushed and shoved a lot, having his wooden violin stolen and then smashed to pieces or even getting a concussion that sent him to the emergency room.

But it was the 30 pages of violent and graphic death threats that sent Morrise, then a seventh-grader, to another school.

"People may say, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt you,' " Morrise said. "But I can tell you that's not true."

Morrise is one of the three Power in You ambassadors who told his story to Syracuse Junior High students during an assembly this past week. The Power in You is a campaign launched by Utah first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman to help youths break through labels and barriers.

Luckily for Morrise, he was able to transfer to another school where he has made several friends. He said being a friend to someone takes character.

"You can show character in your own life and in others' lives by helping them," the Salt Lake teen said.

Frank Wulle walked carefully to the podium to tell the students his story. The 17-year-old was born with a disability that doctors don't even have a name for.

"It makes it so I can't run, jump or even walk the same as everyone," Wulle said, adding that doctors told his parents he would never walk.

But Wulle's challenges went deeper than his physical disability. After a series of struggles, including his parents' divorce, a medical emergency with his father and a rollover car accident that involved him, his mother and his sisters, Wulle went into deep depression.

One day he left a suicide note on the desk of a counselor. That night, the counselor and a police officer came to his home to stop him from taking his life.

Wulle said through that experience he found out that he was not alone in his feelings. He told the students that life is not what happens to them — it's what they do with it.

"Challenges may slow you down, but they can never stop you because you have the power inside you to get through it," Wulle said. "Just take it day by day, making plans for a better tomorrow."

Twenty-one-year-old Allie Schneider from Salt Lake City stood in front of the crowd braced by a set of crutches. Schneider was born with spina bifida, a neural tube defect, which leaves the bottom half of her body without feeling.