Editor's note: In the Human Factor, we profile survivors who have overcome the odds. Confronting a life obstacle – injury, illness or other hardship – they tapped their inner strength and found resilience they didn't know they possessed. Jake Zeldin, 13, endured a lot of bullying, from classmates and even some teachers, all because he has a severe stutter. Then he discovered rap. He took the stage at the "We Day" event in Toronto, Ontario, last month.

September 28, 2012, was the most awesome moment that I have ever experienced in my whole entire life. My first reaction was that I was so excited. I could not wait to get to the Air Canada Center and rock the stage.

After two weeks of practicing, I was about to go on the same stage as Jay-Z, Kanye West, Elton John and all of my other favorites. So many emotions were running through my head.

I started thinking about how different my life was a year ago - how it was so hard to get through a day because of the way people teased me and bullied me. All I wanted to do was to show people how well I could rap. It was the only thing I wanted to do.
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