Hi, my name is Uzochi and I was a victim of verbal, physical, and cyber bullying. The shocking thing is I thought bullying was irrelevant in my life, but it sure was a wake up call. It all started when I went to another school in 2nd grade. I was new and wanted to fit in, so I became friends with the "popular group". I was also friends with another girl who the popular group did not like. They would gossip about this innocent girl and even tell me that she was gossiping about me too. I believed them. In 5th grade, I had had enough of this never-ending drama, in which I was in the middle of. I felt like I had to choose a side and picked the popular one, which is a mistake I regret today. I left my best friend and even started picking on her myself, which is another mistake I regret. Then, in middle school it was a whole different ball game. Everyone changed in maturity and my friend whom I left was now friends with another girl my friends did not like. The two of them become some type of power duo and my friend, who was the leader of the popular group did not like it. She felt like she was losing power. While this was happening, I began to feel relieved that she moved on and was finding herself. By the beginning of 7th grade, I felt like I was losing my friends. They would pay attention to my ex-friend's business and occasionally went to her when I wasn't being fun to hang out with anymore. My ex-friend noticed this and I sensed that she became the new me. My friends replaced me with my ex-friend. My world was crumbling apart, but I was determined to put the pieces back together. The next day, I asked my good friend what I should do. She said to confront the problem, so I got EVERYONE in the situation in a little meeting. I said that I was feeling left out and that I was upset that everyone was not hanging out with me anymore. My friends said that I was the bad one, that I made problems myself, and that I was a bitch. I was hurt. Then I asked my ex-friend if what she supposedly said about me in 2nd grade was true. She denied them. Then my popular friends said that I was the one who started those rumors, when we both know that it was them. My friends had turned into my enemies. I was alone and had absolutely nobody. As the year passed by, they would call me a bitch, dumb, big head, loner, and many other names that are too hard to recall since there were so many. The leader of their group started threatening to push me or hurt me in a physical way. I held my head high and acted as if nothing they'd say could hurt me. That only made them more determined to bring me down, so they would post things about me on facebook, instagram, and ask.FM. Many other random people joined in bullying me and I became the most not liked girl in school for no reason exactly. I cried myself to sleep every night and felt nauseous when it was time to go to school. I would panic and have so many anxiety attacks that I had to go to the doctor multiple. I couldn't eat and my grades that were once As went to Bs and Cs. I was depressed and couldn't take it anymore. I did have suicidal thoughts and thought about running away but I knew that wouldn't solve anything. I talked to my parents and other adults who I trusted, which really helped. I then had the courage to go to the principal. She took care of it and made a public voicing saying that they do not tolerate bullying at the school and she also said that a bully is a hurt person. Afterwards everyone came to my defense and I now have fun and humorous friends who help me when I'm sad. I was becoming myself again. I realized that not everyone is going to like you and there will be bullies where ever you go in life. You can be the reddest, ripest apple and there will still be someone out there who hates apples. You just have to focus on the people who actually matter because those are the people who are worth your time and worry. Stand up to bullies because a bully is nothing more than a coward.