When I was in middle school, about 15 years ago, I was harassed by another girl in my school on a day to day basis in 7th to 8th grade. She was the what was considered "hot" and popular" girl at that time.

It was mostly just name-calling and rude remarks about my appearance. (I was a tomboy.) I wore baggy pants and my fathers hand me down shirts. She would call me a "dyke" on a regular basis and ridicule my choice of clothing. Her best friend had her locker right next to mine. When she learned my locker was next to her best friends, she started using her friends locker as sort of a way to get closer to me. I told my parents what was happening and they actually encouraged me to stand up for myself and if she ever touched me i had their permission to fight back. She actually never made any physical contact with me, so I never had a real reason to fight back. I was fortunately strong willed and never let her petty remarks get to me. I figured the less of a reaction she got from me the less fun it would be to pick on me. I just told myself i am the better person to not be like her. Whether or not she knew or cared, it made me feel better about myself in a way. But even so, there were still days I dreaded having to go to school just because I didn't want to deal with her.

I can't remember exactly what the situation was, but it came down to where my father called the school counselor and informed her of the situation. That lead to me and my bully being called to the counselors office to sit and talk. I recall when my counselor confronted my bully by saying "You call her names..." my bully's reaction was one of those guilty "in disbelief" replies, saying "I call you names?!" At the moment I thought "this is a waste of time, I'm showing weakness and she's going to continue bullying me." I was even more scared now than ever.

The very next day at school, my bully and I were approaching one another in the hall as passed to the next class. She was with two friends and I thought, "okay, here it goes." She walked passed, smiled and waved and said hi to me. I know it was a mocking "hello", but even so, that was the end of it. She never harassed me again after that.

I am thankful that my bullying case never escalated beyond what it was. I'm grateful to have parents who recognized the situation and thinking back on it now after watching The Bully Project, I am very happy that the administration at my school took immediate action on my situation.

The film hit home and I want to spread the word and make others aware of bullying and to help stand up for others. I do believe people will open their eyes and help make a difference.