It started by other children, boys and girls not including me in their games in my new 4th grade class. I had moved to Hereford, TX from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I would always get picked last in gym and I ended up being the only girl in school who wasn't on the basketball team. To this day I am afraid of getting hit with balls as the girls would throw basketballs at me as hard as they could. I was a vegetarian and the girls made a point to tell me that "if there was a drought, you'd die". This lasted for years and broke my spirit after happening every day for three years. In middle school, it only got worse as people put gum in my hair, moved away when I sat down, made death threats, and called me names. At that point I was skinny both naturally and as a side effect of depression. They called me a crackhead and asked if I was anorexic. Eventually I was able to move and have a more educated peer group in Georgetown, TX but to this day, I can spot bullying and as a teacher, try to prevent it. I beat my bullies by surviving and being happy but I still have the emotional scars from such hateful behavior.