Dear high school bullies,

Thank you. While at the times, you made my high school experience a living hell, I can look back now and appreciate all the torment you gave me. Thank you for everything. Now, I can be appreciative of all the times I cried myself to sleep, which was daily for the record. Thank you for spreading rumors and blatant lies behind my back; that taught me that people can be horrible beings. Despite my growing up in the buckle of the "Bible-belt", you showed me that I can't trust people. Years after your torment to me resided, I still struggle with opening up to people, you are the only people to blame. I bet you aready know the reason too: because we grew up together, we were best friends for years. Then you turned around and thrusted holes into my reliability and I had even fewer friends than I ever had.

But despite that, thank you. Because of you, I am stronger now. I can hold my own and stand up for my own opinions, especially when my opinions are not popular, which is extremely often. You gave me a tighter bond to my family. I come home crying again and there they were with open arms and ice cream. They were prepared with the right words to say.Most of the time, their message didn't make sense. How could anyone so beautiful and popular waste their time tearing me down? My mom always said it was jealousy: and now, I believe it.

Coming back home from college was saddening, I miss all my new friends and my sorority sisters. But you either never left home or you came home often enough to not have many friends.Thank you for teaching me how to find the winners who are there to support you through anything. While I could never trust you, I know I can trust them. Second semester, I went weeks on end without coming home. It's not that home is far away, it's just that my life has moved. I wasn't living in high school anymore like my bullies still are.

I use their jealousy towards me to make myself stronger, to show them what they created: a stonger person who is taking advantage of ever opprotunity that comes my way. Opprotunities that they would love to have, but they made it possible for me. They were the ones that called me those names, turned my friends against me, flat out said that I had no purpose, I believed them until I saw what I had that they didn't, a mindset. They lack the goals that steer choices, without those goals, they fall into attempting to demolish others goals.

Sometimes, the bullies win. But, not with me, I wouldn't let them. I had to prove to myself that I was stronger. And I did.

Sincerely,

Moving on with life