A Message to My Former School Bullies

Who hasn’t made lots of mistakes and poor choices in their youth? However, the difference between me and you is that I’m woman enough to admit my past BS and I don’t tuck my tail between my legs and run from it, nor do I highlight the mistakes of others just to cover my own.

The difference between me and you is that instead of burying my past, I use it as my motivation to reach out to the victims of today, whom are stuck in a toxic learning environment and forced to tolerate people like you.

The difference between me and you is that I no longer feel the need to put on a fake persona…to break my back to be someone I’m not. Because unlike many of you, I’m secure in myself as both a person and as a woman, and fully aware of the good I bring to this world, the good I’m capable of, the successes I can enjoy and the positive impact I can make in the lives of others. And unlike you, I give myself the freedom to be myself, no matter who may or may not like it.

The difference between me and you is that I succeed by the grace of God and by my own merit. I don’t rely on small-town politics, nepotism and outright lies or half-truths to get along in life.

The difference between me and you is that my life isn’t all about appearances, whom I can impress, now many friends I have nor how well I can keep up with the Jones’s.

The difference between me and you is that most of you would never have survived had the shoe been on the other foot. I did survive. Better yet, through your despicable treatment of me, I became stronger and wiser. So you were right about one thing…I was and still am different from you.

You see? The beauty of getting older is the realization that I never needed approval nor validation from any of you. You only brainwashed me into believing I did. I realize that not all of you are guilty of bullying, nor are some of you the same sniveling punks you were in school. Therefore, this article doesn’t apply to everyone in this class. You know who you are.

I no longer care what any of you think, say nor do I respond to any threats of retaliation for my daring to speak out. Why, you may wonder? Because I see it all for what it truly is- a load of empty threats and useless rhetoric.

So go ahead. Get your feelings hurt, hate all you want, make all the threats, lie, gossip, spin it anyway you like. Get mad, get glad, do whatever moves you. But you will never silence me. I will continue to stand by everything I’ve written and in my own truth.

Because we all know that anything you say against me and anything I’ve written is only a weak and pathetic attempt to save face. Anyone outside of this class and outside of high school knows that I’m a great person with a good heart and good head on my shoulders and that’s enough.

Every person is a roller-coaster composed of highs and lows, stops and starts and positives/negatives. We’re so much more than our negatives. So I was never “crazy” (I’m sure you knew it all along but refuse to admit it). Did I have my crazy moments? Absolutely. And I don’t have to tell you who I have to thank for it.

In conclusion, I now see that you only used me to make yourselves feel, look and seem better than you really were. To put it bluntly, you hid behind me…but that’s where you belonged in the first place…BEHIND me.

And now, I get to use you as fuel to my success and to reach out to those whom suffer the same horrific treatment you dished out to me years ago! Sorry! OOPS! Not sorry!