Bullied daily in my school and home, life was nightmarish for me as a child. I endured verbal and physical abuse from the other children because I was different; I was good at my classwork and loved to read but had little understanding of social nuance, so I wore odd clothing and talked about unusually grown-up subjects. The former made them want to pick on me... and the latter made it easy. A small child, it was simple for them to surround me on the playground to keep their bullying out of sight of the monitors. When we got older, the hallways were my places of torment. I was kicked, punched, hit in the face, shoved into lockers and trapped, and I endured the inevitable cruel nicknames and nasty rumors. It destroyed my confidence, made me feel worthless, caused me to believe that my existence was meaningless. I didn't begin to appreciate my life until leaving my home town to get a new start elsewhere. Once away from the bullying, I came to love myself. Now I'm comfortable with who I truly am and can finally navigate social situations with the ease and enjoyment I always envied in others. And I cannot wait to go to my high school reunion and show them all the confident woman I've become! By joining this community and finding more ways to take action, I hope that my words or deeds can some day help a child in a similar situation.