High school is a different experience for everyone. Some people love high school; they think it is where you find your true self and where you figure out the rest of your life. They think that high school is fun, and a great way to explore new ways of thinking and to grow as a person. Others would argue that high school is terrible, and that everyone is stuck up and only interested in their own well being. For me, I agree more with the negative group of people. Don’t get me wrong, I do think that high school definitely can be fun sometimes, and that you do grow as person. I just don’t think that high school is as amazing as people make it seem.
I was bullied in high school. Which you can’t tell from how happy I look in pictures.
I was bullied my sophomore year of high school, when people are supposed to be starting to figure out what they want to study in high school, and when the classes start to get a lot harder.
I was bullied by someone who I thought was my best friend at the time but turned out to be nothing more than a liar. I was also manipulated. I was emotionally manipulated by a guy that I was dating at the time.
I remember when it all started. I was in AP Euro minding my own business and attempting to pay attention to the lesson when I get a text from this person about an ongoing fight we were evidently having about the guy I was dating. In the conversation that proceeded, she called me “ fake” and “disgusting,” telling me the reason why her walk with God was faltering was because of the choices I was apparently making in my life. According to her, I was her role model, and every bad mistake I made was bad for her and made her not like me anymore. There was more, but I blocked some of that out.
I remember asking my teacher to go to the bathroom, and I think he could tell something was wrong. I called my mom and dad. I told them what happened and asked them if I could come home. My dad took my phone and copied down every message that person sent me and eventually showed them to the person’s dad and the principal.
The person that bullied me caused our friends to pick sides, and no one really chose mine. I was alone and no one did anything else to fix this. This person continued to quietly harass me at school and at work, showing me that they had won, that they had taken our friends away from me, and that this was all my fault.
I switched schools to get away from this person and this part of my life. I just needed some relief. The school I switched to also became a problem because the guy we fought about went to that school, which I thought would be nice because I would have a familiar face around and I knew he’d help me make friends. In some ways, I was wrong.
Mostly I was wrong because he was no help in this situation. He continued to be manipulative. He wouldn’t let me wear makeup. He would get touchy if I even thought about hanging out with the friends that I did still have. His thought process was that he should be the only one I NEEDED to be with, and that my other friends didn’t matter. Of course, whenever he would want to hang out with friends he’d get his wish because if I even confronted him about it he would get defensive.
I had to learn to be by myself and learn to think for myself. This forced me to not care anymore.
But over time I knew that I couldn’t be like this forever. He and I eventually broke up (big surprise, and he had cheated… bigger surprise).
I needed to get over this. Because of everything I had been through, I became more sensitive to how people treated me, and I developed a better sense of listening to other people’s problems. This made it easier to make new friends at my new school and even meet the person who would be my best friend, a person I knew would stick with me through anything, and who now, two years later, is one of the most genuine, most loving and most beautiful person I have ever met in my entire life. She helped me realize that no, boys are actually the problem and that I am better than that.
Photo: The first day I met Megan
Photo: Senior Prom
I think that is what people need to take away from this: high school sucked for me. The people in my high school didn’t always treat me well. But they don’t have to define who I am. They don’t have to take away my happiness or my willingness to be a better person. Life really does get a lot better. My life is sure proof of that. These negative situations should provide the actual strength you need to pull yourself up, dust yourself off and show the world that nothing can tear you down. The world cannot win, but you can. Be yourself, because being yourself is the most beautiful and wonderful thing that you can do for this world.
High school wasn’t all it was made up to be. If I could go back, I would definitely change a few things. But I don’t think I would change what happened to me, because it made me a better, more loving and caring person toward other people, and if none of this had ever happened, I would have not met my best friend. I don’t think I would have been so motivated to make a greater impact on this world.
The negative situations in life don’t have to define who you are. You are you, and no one can change who you are. Love who you want, make the friends that you want and don’t let anyone walk over you. Once you stop giving in to other people and you learn to stand up for yourself, you’ll be able to truly love yourself.