My story will start out like any other typical story of bullying. When I was about 5 years old, my bullying story started. I am half Portuguese and half Native American, so naturally, I'm going to be a tan child. I feel like people fear what they don't understand. Not only was it students picking on me and alienating me, but the staff as well. To them, being tan and not white was a burden and uncalled for. They treated me like I asked to be tan and to be picked on. Since kindergarten through high school, I was stabbed by not just pencils but anything sharp, threatened by notes and phone calls, cyber bullied, I've been jumped on the bus by multiple people, I've been burned and branded, I've had my head put through a bus window, I've even had people whisper to me in notes and in my ear about how they're going to kill my family. They would include imagery about the guns or weapons they would use and how they would use them. Finally, my last few years of high school, I started fighting back. It felt like it was me versus the whole school. I was in many fights, I dabbled into drugs and alcohol, I became a true delinquent. I almost was expelled and locked up because I stood up for myself. I truly felt.....alone. I am now 20 years old and to me, that's all in the past. I still may wear the marks and brands and scars, but I'm stronger inside than I ever thought I could be.