I just recently saw the movie, "Bully" and it inspired me to immediately get on this website and see if there was anything I could do to make a difference. I'm about to graduate from college now, but when I was in grade school I was a victim of bullying myself. As a kid, my family moved several times to different states, which meant I had to switch schools a lot. This was not easy, especially when I got older. It was very hard to adapt to an environment where everyone has known each other since Pre-K and the entire community sticks to a conservative, judgmental, pretentious behavioral structure that excludes newcomers. We always lived in uppity suburbs and went to the top rated public schools that were suppose to provide me and my brother with the best of the best school experience. I was not a cheerleader, a member of student council, or dating anyone on a sports team. I was a drama kid-- who didn't even mesh with the drama department at my school. I did theatre out in the community. Those experiences made me confident and gave me something to hope for when I would finally graduate. But, that didn't make my school life any easier. I remember walking through the halls on the last day of senior year and thinking that I will never miss that place-- that fake little brick building with all it's plastic, paper-thin students and begrudging faculty. And I was right-- I have never once missed high school, those lonely afternoons spent in the library or bathroom during lunch, the miserable pep rallies or the torture of prom season. But with all that to say, while I used to wish to fit in and blend in with the crowd, I am now so unbelievably happy that high school wasn't my prime and I went on to find a community where I belong. We all think that middle school and high school are the worst days of our lives and that things won't get any better. Well from my experience, it was. I have yet to run into a single one of the bullies I knew in high school since graduation that was actually successful and happy. Things got easier for me after high school. That's not to say that there won't still be challenges-- petty drama even (because there will always be that one or two people that are perceptually stuck in the 7th grade)-- but after you know you've gotten through the worst of it, everything else you face becomes a little more bearable. My advise-- find a passion outside of school. Whether it be an art class, book club, volunteer work, whatever... find a passion and set a goal for yourself to distract your attention away from the abuse at school and onto something that makes you feel important.

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.”  
― Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom    

Love yourself and know your truth,

Gina D