Dear People Who Bullied Me,

Thank you. Thank you for all of those times that you decided to make my life a living nightmare. Thank you for all of those times that you decided to push me down the hall, or the times you decided to call me “jelly belly.” Thank you for pushing me to the point of breaking. Yes, that's right, I said thank you.

You see, without all of those terrible times that you decided to make your words cut instead of heal, you taught me to never treat someone that way. You taught me that just because someone is different that it is not okay to hurt them. Thank you for forcing me to find my inner strength, but more than anything thank you for saving my life.

That moment during freshman year when you all decided to push me to the point of giving up...you all also forced me to lean on someone bigger than myself: God. You all thought you may have won that night I put out that “goodbye” post...but what you did not realize is that night I was saved. I was saying goodbye to YOU. I was saying goodbye to low-self esteem. I was saying goodbye to letting others hurt me. I was saying goodbye to the old me, and hello to the new me.

Because of you, I am a stronger, kinder, wiser, smarter and more loving woman. I can only hope that one day you look back and realize that all you did was build me up...not tear me down. I hope one day that you find that it isn't hard to be nice, and that words have the power to change the world. I hope one day that you find the power to take your words that you once hurt people with, and you use them to help.