From Year 6 got bullied, all the way up till I was in year 11. I'm short I'm fat and I wear glasses. I walk with a limp because I have problems with my hips. I had every name shouted to me at school but I just kept it in, I never told anyone, I just got on with it telling myself 'they will stop soon' it was the same group of boys and the 2 girls every day for 5 years. I tried to change myself by wearing make-up like the girls did, wearing my school uniform like they did, getting the bags that the girls had, I stopped wearing my glasses. All so they would stop bullying me, obviously it didn't work. I was never the most confident, I always had a note for P.E, I always sat at the back of the class so they couldn't throw things at me, that still didn't stop them. my science teacher at the time saw me everyday for form and she knew that something wasn't right so when I was in year 10 she kept me after form asked me what was wrong, I just broke down and told her everything. The next day in form she sat next to me after everyone had gone and gave me a hug. she told me she had put my name down for counselling from another teacher, she said things would soon get better. once a week everyday for the next year and a half I went to counselling and in each session I would tackle a problem of mine while at the same time trying to build my confidence  and at the end of the week id go back to my form teacher and I would talk to her about the sessions. gradually things get better, I began to respect myself and gain confidence. I started acting like myself and not caring what people thought of me. I felt on top of the world. I'm not 17 years old and about to start college doing hairdressing, if that was the old me never ever would I have applied for college. Everyone is different and we should all embrace that fact. We all look different and act different but if we where all the same how boring would it be? honestly, its so easy for people to say be yourself don't care about what people say. At the end of the day we all have feelings and emotions, different things hurt in different ways. if I had one tip for you all, that tip would be; to stay brave, if something someone does to you hurts report it.

Respect to each and everyone of you.
"Don't be a nobody, be a somebody"
P.S
It really does get better x