Three years of one’s life is spent with uncomfortable braces, weird hormones, and an awkward personality. Middle school. What a time to be alive, am I right? In general, middle schoolers feel as though they are hot stuff when in reality, they are just a hot mess. They are too old to be considered cute little kids but can’t yet blossom and mature into young adults.

I come from a small Catholic school, and some might think middle school stereotypes didn't exist there. Oh, but they did. The worst thing about middle school was that everyone tried really hard to fit in with the cool kids. If they didn't fit in, they were bullied and ridiculed. Who made the cool kids cool anyway? And who gave them authority to rule the school? Was it because they matured faster than some? Or was it that they believed that they proclaimed themselves to be top notch? Also, what’s the point of bullying those who didn’t fit their standards?

I wasn’t cool but neither was I bullied for being me. Although, I do cringe at the thought of once having unmaintained eyebrows, a face full of pimples, and teeth covered in braces and colored bands. Let’s not bring up the memory of being incompetent at doing my own makeup and making my hair look presentable. I guess I didn’t care what I looked like that much (even though I still felt as though I had myself together, thinking I was the greatest ever).

As a 20-year-old, almost halfway done with college, I now question why I continued to be a bystander throughout my time at middle school. Since my class only had about 40 students, I wonder what kind of person I would be today if I stood up to my peers who were bullied. I know it's not my place to be involved in conflict between two groups, but I still wonder what impact I could've made for those who were bullied. As for now, I continue to stay towards the background because that's how I developed my personality

Middle school can be considered the worst time of one's life, however, it can definitely have an impact on the person you could be 10 years down the road.