My name is Kayla White. All throughout my junior high years, I was bullied. I was the black sheep, the outcast, and I was very different. People labeled me, and stereotyped me, all because I was not a clone like them. I strived to be unique and different, but the more I tried, the more I was picked on and bullied. People would call me a freak, purposely make inappropriate jokes, and even had a few kids tell me to go kill myself. I wore a lot of black, and I hung out with the underdogs. I listened to a lot of heavy metal music and screamo, and everyone criticized me for it. At the time, I was going through a really rough spot in my life. My parents were constantly fighting, and they were in the middle of a divorce. I was diagnosed with severe depression, and nobody at school knew about it. I would get cruel messages on my social networking sites, and mean notes during school. At the end of that year, I moved away to new school, where I thought it would be better. As soon as I started this new school, it was all the same as before. I was the new, shy, different girl, who had no new friends, and was scared. I got ridiculed a lot for being different, I would be at my locker and get my locker door slammed in my face by kids who thought it was funny. I slowly began to make new friends, and for a while the bullying stopped. But, I eventually became great friends with a girl who was lesbian. Then, the teasing started again. People don't know how to accept others for their differences, and we were both picked on by kids because everyone thought we were together, when we weren't. I have been called every name in the book by kids who thought that bullying was cool to do, just because I was different. Not long after, my father and step mom passed away in a car accident, and everyone at the school knew. I missed 3 weeks of school due to counseling, depression, and attempt of suicide. My doctors diagnosed me with ADD and post-traumatic stress disorder. I wanted to get better, but life was hard. Nobody knows how much bullying can really hurt, until they put themselves in others shoes. I came back to school, and got many apologies, and many prayers. I even got hugs from the people who bullied me before. Not long after, I had to change schools again, because of family issues. I slowly started to heal, and I am truly thankful for all of my real friends who stuck by me and supported me through out the whole time.

-Kayla White