As you may or may not know, I have been out of high school for quite some time now. Approximately 500 days to be exact. You’d think I’d be over High School and in many ways I am but I still hold onto the painful memories which made me pray to God every night before I slept that my high school experience would not continue when I went off to college.

You may be wondering what kind of terrible things led me to the creation of this article. Well, maybe it was the fact that almost everything that came out of my mouth was twisted and contrived to be tossed into the rumor machine.

If you were to tell 15-18-year-old Madison Gardner that things DO get better after high school I wouldn't have believed you. Everything when going through it seems so relative, but in the grand scheme of things, high school is merely a blip in time.

THANK YOU for purposefully not inviting me to various social events.

I learned to be independent and care for myself. Not attending the football games every Friday night let me spend quality time in the home I loved with the family I so cherished. With this time on my hands, I was also able to stray away from the temptations of alcohol, busted parties, and had the time to explore who I wanted to be and what I wanted to make of my life outside of that little midwestern bubble.

THANK YOU for not letting me join your clique

Through this, I learned that it is okay to be on your own and not have a solid group of friends surrounding you. Although it was not an ideal situation, I learned that my biggest fans were myself and my parents. I learned how to be inclusive-not just associate with my “squad”. In college I am now able to make friends with all types of backgrounds because I was shown that having solid friends wasn’t easy when in reality it is a piece of cake to make a friendship work that is worth fighting for.

THANK YOU for stabbing me in the back numerous times

This helped me learn who and how to trust. I gained tact and can now easily detect and decipher how to deal with those who have wronged me and where to take those mangled relationships.

THANK YOU for making fun of me for wearing dresses

Now I can confidently wear dresses to school, to work, to babysit, around the house, to sleep, or wherever the hell I want. Since you once judged me for it, the worst is over right? Outside of my dinky alma mater, people couldn't give less of a shit about what you are wearing. I could wear my bathing suit and no one would probably say anything here..

THANK YOU for spreading rumors about me

These rumors have made me understand how hurtful it is to spread nonsense about someone. Now that I’ve healed, I can say that I have gotten thicker skin which I would’ve never had otherwise. Being an only child, I never had a sibling to pick on me in the traditional sense so this was indeed a blessing in disguise for the career I plan on pursuing.

Coming to such a diverse university has opened my eyes and turned my once negative heart, positive again. People back home stuck in their gossipy, petty ways are going to have to learn the hard way that the world doesn’t work like high school once did. I however, am already one step ahead and can proudly say -

Thank you for teaching me how miserable I could be and how it WAS possible to become the happiest person on the planet again.

(high school is just high school. It is shitty but there's a world outside of it)