To the people who rode my bus in 7th grade that gave me a hard time just for sitting next to them when there was no seats left on the bus. To the girls in 8th grade who sent embarrassing pictures of me around and threw stuff at me in gym. To the girl who put me on a list of ugly girls in our county. Thanks to you whenever someone compliments me I hesitate in fear that it might be a cruel joke. Thanks to you sometimes I stay up at night and can't sleep thinking about the trauma you caused me. All in all, I really do want to thank you.

At the time each of these happened, I was crushed. The feeling was similar to a soccer ball being kicked full force into your chest. I didn't even know how to respond. Neither did my friends or family. As supportive as they all may have been, no one truly knew how it made me feel. No one knew just how long I would actually hold on to these feelings and how long I would despise the people who afflicted this pain on me.

After many many years I finally came to the conclusion that these people didn't even realize exactly what they were doing. Clearly they had something else going on in their lives that made them feel as though they needed to do something this cruel. They could not have possibly had any idea how hard something like this could have affected me. I can't imagine anyone with any soul whatsoever could purposely afflict something like these to haunt a person as it has to me.

Although sometimes it may still get me down and make me think negatively about not only the people involved with these acts, but myself as well, I have to say I do appreciate what these people have done for me. They didn't tear me down; they built me up. They showed me that I could go through something that I thought I could never get over and come out stronger. I have my battle scars and I am wiser from it. I take everything with a grain of salt; I have learned not to get down over the silly things that people to.

If anything, I would like to apologize to you guys. I'm sorry that my fellow bus riders felt the need to publicly show that they really didn't want me to sit next to them. I hope that whatever you were going through during the time I got better. I am sorry to the girls who sent pictures of me around and threw stuff at me. I hope that what you did made you feel better about yourselves and I hope your own confidence has improved since then. Lastly, I am sorry to the girl who added me to a top ugliest people in Dinwiddie list. I hope it made you feel as though you should be on the top prettiest people in Dinwiddie list and I hope your confidence has improved as well.

Thank you, guys. Thank you for helping me see just how strong I really am. Thank you for making me the beautiful person I am today.