The message delivered to the students at Yorkdale Central School on Tuesday, January 13 was a simple one: Be who you want to be and don’t let others bring you down.
The man delivering the message, however, was anything but simple; although he was the living embodiment of that statement.
Fingers painted, wearing yellow, purple and pink socks inside white leather shoes and carrying a pink purse, five-time Ring Of Honor (ROH) tag team champion Jimmy Jacobs, known in the professional wrestling world as the ‘Zombie Princess’, took time out of his extremely busy schedule to address the Yorkdale student body on the subject of bullying and how to not let it bother you.
“I myself was the target of bullying when I was in school,” the visibly flamboyant Jacobs told the students of Yorkdale. “But I was always bold enough and confident enough to be myself for better or for worse through and through. I had a lot of people say a lot of negative things about me, such as the way I dressed.
“I still have people make fun of my nail polish, my tight clothes or the purse I wear when I go out. But I choose to be myself. I choose not to let that get me down. I hope all of you can do the same and instead of bullying someone, just accept who they are, because if you do that, they’ll accept you as well.”
The 30-year-old Jacobs continued on, telling the students that ‘you too can be whoever you want to be’ and that ‘the only person that can dictate who you are is yourself’, before ending his appearance in front of the Yorkdale students, who ranged in grades from kindergarten to grade eight, with an enthralling tale of his battle with a pain pill addiction and subsequent victory over his addiction demon, saying, “I made the mistakes for you so that you don’t have to.
“Stay away from drugs, stay away from alcohol. You don’t need it. Just like bullying, none of it is a smart thing to do.”
Following his nearly half an hour presentation, Jacobs told Yorkton This Week that he was honoured to have been asked to speak in front of the children. “I was asked to speak and I was glad was asked because it’s really a privilege. I’m not trying to sound cheesy, this is real, this is the truth of it,” offered Jacobs, adding that it’s because of professional wrestling that he has had the chance to make a positive impact on the lives of students. “Wrestling has afforded me the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on some people’s lives and so I hope today some of the kids took away something from what I said.
“You can be whatever you want to be. I’ve seen it and I’m proof of it. You can manifest whatever you want out of this life. You really can… dreams do come true. That’s how the world is.”
