I'd like to take this time to express my deepest gratitude for a group of people that are often unacknowledged. You receive limitless bad publicity, and are only credited for others anger, depression and anxiety.

Thank you bullies; through your blatant immaturity, hateful bitterness and insecurity driven torment you have taught me incredible life lessons of strength, love and loyalty. Without you, I never would have become the kick ass, independent woman that I am today...That was your intention, right?

Well, since no one else is doing it, let me express my tremendous appreciation for you:

Thanks for ripping my drawings...

You taught me that rejection is a part of life, and that following your dreams involves going down a road full of discouraging speed bumps. Also, you showed me the importance of saving everything digitally. Now I know that fires, blackouts, computer viruses and seven-year-old boys are all disastrous to paper mediums. The scribbled tree I can get over, but the Photoshop project that took me 3 weeks would have really pissed me off.

Thanks for pushing me....

You taught me about strength in the face of hardship, and that getting knocked down is no reason not to get back up. You showed me that pain can make a person stronger. If you think I'm over exaggerating, then you clearly don't understand the wrath of a tall popular 11-year-old girl who has the cajones to knock you down at a daddy-daughter dance. Yeah…that happened.

Thanks for pretending to like me...

Unfortunately, not everyone in this world is genuine. When you wrote fake love letters just to show off to your friends, you taught me that some people aren't worth my trust and that actions have a greater value than words. Thanks for teaching me caution, and that everything (even an innocent looking 12 year boy) is not always as it seems.

Thanks for the stab in the back...

We were totally BFFs 4EVR... Until those other girls said something mean. You turned on me faster then I could have ever imagined, but in those moments you taught me how to be a great friend. You showed me what being fake looks like, and illustrated the value of loyalty. Because of you, I have created for myself not just a circle of friends, but a "family," and I would fight their battles harder than my own, knowing that they would do the exact same for me.

Thanks for calling me names...

The thing that I love most about myself, I owe all to you – my confidence. I don't need anyone's approval to be who I am. I'm not a chameleon and I refuse to be a sheep; if that makes me "weird," then I own the shit out of weird. Finding yourself can often take years, but because of you I learned from a very young age exactly who I am, and I am beautiful.

Take your pain and make it strength. Thank your bullies, forgive them their hatred, they will never experience the power they so "graciously" bestowed upon you.