The bullying started for me when I was in Kindergarten.

I don't remember exactly when in kindergarten it started. There was a girl who would sit beside me in the gym before school started and she would hit me and kick me. None of the teachers would do anything. My parents finally had the school switch me to the other kindergarten teacher and the bullying pretty much stopped for the rest of the year.

First grade started out pretty good. Everyone in our grade got along okay. That was until a new girl moved to my school. She was in my class and sat next to me. She was pretty friendly for about 2 weeks. Then, one day, our teacher was playing music in class and left the room for a minute. A song came on and I knew the tune, but not the words. I said, "oh I like this song!"

She replied, "well if you like it so much you should be able to sing it." And made me attempt to sing it in front of my entire class. When I couldn't, she called me a liar and said I couldn't sing. It was extremely embarrassing and I still struggle with stage fright to this day as a result.

She went to my school till 3rd grade and verbally bullied me every day until she moved away. I remember her saying multiple times "if you disappeared of the face of the earth, no one would care/notice." And I believed her.

After she left, I was bullied by the "popular" girls and all but one of my friends. At the end of my 6th grade year, I star praying that things would change. I was very shy and was afraid to speak to anyone. I gave up on that because nothing changed right away (I tended to be impatient).

When I started 7th grade, I began going to junior high campus life. Campus life is a nation-wide Christian organization that brings the Gospel to participating junior high and high schools. One day, I decided I wasn't going to go anymore because I didn't have any friends there. That day, a lady came over to where I was sitting alone and started talking to me. We got along so well that I continued to go. About a week later, I met my best friend. Except, we didn't really start talking until about a year later. In this story, I'm going to call her FRIEND1. We met at church through my youth pastor's daughter. She was a junior at the time but we looked a lot alike.

The bullying continued through 7th and not as badly through 8th grade. One of my "friends" told me I couldn't be friends with FRIEND1 or any of the other people I started hanging out with. I quickly ended our friendship. That was one of the best decisions I ever made.

FRIEND1 and I started hanging out the summer after she graduated because she started working at the local coffee shop. I'm not sure why, but she made me feel comfortable and I felt like I could finally be myself. It got to the point that if she was around, I could be myself. Regardless of who else was around. Even old bullies. I became braver because of her. Throughout my freshman year, I told her more and more about the bullying. She always encouraged me and reminded me that I have friends now that won't do that to me.

The summer after my freshman year, we went on a retreat called Impact Week. FRIEND1 encouraged me to tell the other people from my school about the bullying. I did and now I have two friends there who defend me if someone says something (which they rarely do anymore). FRIEND1 is now like my older sister and we always find time to hang out in our busy schedules.

I’m a sophomore now and most of the bullying has stopped and I’m not afraid to be myself. I have 4 friends in my grade and at least 6 others who don't go to my school. I'm so thankful for everyone who helped me through all of that and encouraged me through it all.

I probably left stuff out but this is the best that I could explain without writing about 50 pages. Thanks for reading! ❤️