Brooks King really doesn't like bullies.

"When I was younger and up until I was maybe 14 I got bullied a lot," said King, a Marion native and UMass Dartmouth student. "I eventually decided that I'd had enough and wasn't doing this anymore."

King decided to start standing up to bullies and now he wants to inspire others to stand up to them too after winning an anti-bullying poetry contest sponsored by End Bullying Now.

"I do a lot of volunteer work," said Brooks, a member of the Dartmouth Rotaract Club. "One of the women I work with was volunteering at the gallery the event was being held at."

The event was held at TSE TSE, a Providence art gallery that seeks to "increase access to the arts, provide exposure for the young, as well as skilled artist, encourage young artistic talent, and promote individual and community development through art."

King's poem beat out some 250 applicants and netted him an $100 prize, but that's enough, he says.

"I want to beat thousands," King said. "I want to be the best."

In the midst of his studies, community service and everything else, King has thrown himself into poetry as the first thing "I've ever really given 110 percent to."

"I've never won anything in my entire life," he said of the award. "I have a knack for it [poetry], at least, I'd like to think I do."

A knack that came to him after years of being bullied and struggling to find his place. While attending Upper Cape Regional Technical High School, King was told he'd never make it in his chosen trade of carpentry.

"I was told I was a perfect example of why tigers eat their young," he said, laughing.

Now, King attends open mic nights and will be satisfied, for now, just to see his name published. Eventually, he'd like to become a travel journalist.

As for bullies, they don't bother him anymore.

"You can either carry it like it's a chip on your shoulder and become weaker for it," he said. "Or you can become a stronger person."

To read King's winning poem, download the document below.