Growing up, I thought I had friends, in fact, I knew I had friends. I tried hanging out with the cool kids who lived up the street and went to my elementary school. They would be nice and invite me over but at times when I was being bullied they would step back and get involved with the bullying. But, I was never invited to parties or anything. Everytime people made plans around me and wouldn't invite me to places, I felt sad and lonely. Most of the time, my stupid mouth, would get me in trouble. I start talking bad to someone and of course they would be mean back to me but I was more sensitive. My words really did get me in a lot of trouble and I would get in so much trouble in middle school because of what I said to people. They would say something I thought was mean, and I would reply back to someone with worse. In 8th grade, I was tested for Aspergers, a form of Autism, and was diagnosed with it. I was the complete opposite of someone with Aspergers. Most with Aspergers are quiet and shy, but ask anyone, I was the most annoying kid at school. My problem, I used Aspergers as an excuse for my actions. I stopped taking responsibility for my actions. When I finally reached high school, I felt safer. My dad worked there and taught ASB (leadership class) and his students were so kind and nice to me. They made me feel special and welcomed. I knew I was loved. My sister went there too, so I knew I was safe. But, 9th grade was my worst year of bullying. A Junior who I thought I was semi friends with, ended up having one of his friends push me into a urinal. In math class, I was constantly made fun and got things thrown at me by a bunch of Seniors. My teacher did nothing about it. One day, they smashed a strawberry underneath my binder. When I went to report it, I saw my teacher and asked for the names of one of the students, he replied back with, "you're making a big deal out of this and you should just let it go." My friend later told me those students felt bad because I didn't make a big scene out of the situation. Although, with all this bullying and mean stuff going on, I knew I was still loved by friends and peers. I knew that I still had friends and that not everyone hated me. I knew I was loved when on a social media website Ask.fm where people can ask anonymous quesitons, someone kept telling me I was annoying and that no one loves me and to stop using Aspergers as an excuse for being annoying. I posted that on Instagram and so many people came back saying sorry and that they always have my back. 10th, this year, got so much better. I've only been bullied by words by a couple kids and it's not as bad as it used to be. Those childhood kids I mentioned earlier, I still hang out with everyday at lunch. But, of course, I sometimes feel lonely and left out, because I constantly see on social media that they are hanging out and have parties that I'm never invited to. But, I've learned that I'm always still loved and no matter what they are always still my friends. I know now not to use my disability as an excuse for my behavior. I just want everyone to know to stay strong and to never give up. There are people out there who love you, even if it doesn't seem like it. There are people that are willing to be your friend and interact with you. I never used suicide as an excuse because I knew that I would be putting so many people in pain for the rest of your life. I have a motto for people, "don't put one life out of pain, only to put hundreds of others in pain forever." I know I may not feel loved but secretly I am loved by a lot more people than I think.

Growing up, I thought I had friends, in fact, I knew I had friends. I tried hanging out with the cool kids who lived up the street and went to my elementary school. They would be nice and invite me over but at times when I was being bullied they would step back and get involved with the bullying. But, I was never invited to parties or anything. Everytime people made plans around me and wouldn't invite me to places, I felt sad and lonely. Most of the time, my stupid mouth, would get me in trouble. I start talking bad to someone and of course they would be mean back to me but I was more sensitive. My words really did get me in a lot of trouble and I would get in so much trouble in middle school because of what I said to people. They would say something I thought was mean, and I would reply back to someone with worse. In 8th grade, I was tested for Aspergers, a form of Autism, and was diagnosed with it. I was the complete opposite of someone with Aspergers. Most with Aspergers are quiet and shy, but ask anyone, I was the most annoying kid at school. My problem, I used Aspergers as an excuse for my actions. I stopped taking responsibility for my actions. When I finally reached high school, I felt safer. My dad worked there and taught ASB (leadership class) and his students were so kind and nice to me. They made me feel special and welcomed. I knew I was loved. My sister went there too, so I knew I was safe. But, 9th grade was my worst year of bullying. A Junior who I thought I was semi friends with, ended up having one of his friends push me into a urinal. In math class, I was constantly made fun and got things thrown at me by a bunch of Seniors. My teacher did nothing about it. One day, they smashed a strawberry underneath my binder. When I went to report it, I saw my teacher and asked for the names of one of the students, he replied back with, "you're making a big deal out of this and you should just let it go." My friend later told me those students felt bad because I didn't make a big scene out of the situation. Although, with all this bullying and mean stuff going on, I knew I was still loved by friends and peers. I knew that I still had friends and that not everyone hated me. I knew I was loved when on a social media website Ask.fm where people can ask anonymous quesitons, someone kept telling me I was annoying and that no one loves me and to stop using Aspergers as an excuse for being annoying. I posted that on Instagram and so many people came back saying sorry and that they always have my back. 10th, this year, got so much better. I've only been bullied by words by a couple kids and it's not as bad as it used to be. Those childhood kids I mentioned earlier, I still hang out with everyday at lunch. But, of course, I sometimes feel lonely and left out, because I constantly see on social media that they are hanging out and have parties that I'm never invited to. But, I've learned that I'm always still loved and no matter what they are always still my friends. I know now not to use my disability as an excuse for my behavior. I just want everyone to know to stay strong and to never give up. There are people out there who love you, even if it doesn't seem like it. There are people that are willing to be your friend and interact with you. I never used suicide as an excuse because I knew that I would be putting so many people in pain for the rest of your life. I have a motto for people, "don't put one life out of pain, only to put hundreds of others in pain forever." I know I may not feel loved but secretly I am loved by a lot more people than I think.

Growing up, I thought I had friends, in fact, I knew I had friends. I tried hanging out with the cool kids who lived up the street and went to my elementary school. They would be nice and invite me over but at times when I was being bullied they would step back and get involved with the bullying. But, I was never invited to parties or anything. Everytime people made plans around me and wouldn't invite me to places, I felt sad and lonely. Most of the time, my stupid mouth, would get me in trouble. I start talking bad to someone and of course they would be mean back to me but I was more sensitive. My words really did get me in a lot of trouble and I would get in so much trouble in middle school because of what I said to people. They would say something I thought was mean, and I would reply back to someone with worse. In 8th grade, I was tested for Aspergers, a form of Autism, and was diagnosed with it. I was the complete opposite of someone with Aspergers. Most with Aspergers are quiet and shy, but ask anyone, I was the most annoying kid at school. My problem, I used Aspergers as an excuse for my actions. I stopped taking responsibility for my actions. When I finally reached high school, I felt safer. My dad worked there and taught ASB (leadership class) and his students were so kind and nice to me. They made me feel special and welcomed. I knew I was loved. My sister went there too, so I knew I was safe. But, 9th grade was my worst year of bullying. A Junior who I thought I was semi friends with, ended up having one of his friends push me into a urinal. In math class, I was constantly made fun and got things thrown at me by a bunch of Seniors. My teacher did nothing about it. One day, they smashed a strawberry underneath my binder. When I went to report it, I saw my teacher and asked for the names of one of the students, he replied back with, "you're making a big deal out of this and you should just let it go." My friend later told me those students felt bad because I didn't make a big scene out of the situation. Although, with all this bullying and mean stuff going on, I knew I was still loved by friends and peers. I knew that I still had friends and that not everyone hated me. I knew I was loved when on a social media website Ask.fm where people can ask anonymous quesitons, someone kept telling me I was annoying and that no one loves me and to stop using Aspergers as an excuse for being annoying. I posted that on Instagram and so many people came back saying sorry and that they always have my back. 10th, this year, got so much better. I've only been bullied by words by a couple kids and it's not as bad as it used to be. Those childhood kids I mentioned earlier, I still hang out with everyday at lunch. But, of course, I sometimes feel lonely and left out, because I constantly see on social media that they are hanging out and have parties that I'm never invited to. But, I've learned that I'm always still loved and no matter what they are always still my friends. I know now not to use my disability as an excuse for my behavior. I just want everyone to know to stay strong and to never give up. There are people out there who love you, even if it doesn't seem like it. There are people that are willing to be your friend and interact with you. I never used suicide as an excuse because I knew that I would be putting so many people in pain for the rest of your life. I have a motto for people, "don't put one life out of pain, only to put hundreds of others in pain forever." I know I may not feel loved but secretly I am loved by a lot more people than I think.

Growing up, I thought I had friends, in fact, I knew I had friends. I tried hanging out with the cool kids who lived up the street and went to my elementary school. They would be nice and invite me over but at times when I was being bullied they would step back and get involved with the bullying. But, I was never invited to parties or anything. Everytime people made plans around me and wouldn't invite me to places, I felt sad and lonely. Most of the time, my stupid mouth, would get me in trouble. I start talking bad to someone and of course they would be mean back to me but I was more sensitive. My words really did get me in a lot of trouble and I would get in so much trouble in middle school because of what I said to people. They would say something I thought was mean, and I would reply back to someone with worse. In 8th grade, I was tested for Aspergers, a form of Autism, and was diagnosed with it. I was the complete opposite of someone with Aspergers. Most with Aspergers are quiet and shy, but ask anyone, I was the most annoying kid at school. My problem, I used Aspergers as an excuse for my actions. I stopped taking responsibility for my actions. When I finally reached high school, I felt safer. My dad worked there and taught ASB (leadership class) and his students were so kind and nice to me. They made me feel special and welcomed. I knew I was loved. My sister went there too, so I knew I was safe. But, 9th grade was my worst year of bullying. A Junior who I thought I was semi friends with, ended up having one of his friends push me into a urinal. In math class, I was constantly made fun and got things thrown at me by a bunch of Seniors. My teacher did nothing about it. One day, they smashed a strawberry underneath my binder. When I went to report it, I saw my teacher and asked for the names of one of the students, he replied back with, "you're making a big deal out of this and you should just let it go." My friend later told me those students felt bad because I didn't make a big scene out of the situation. Although, with all this bullying and mean stuff going on, I knew I was still loved by friends and peers. I knew that I still had friends and that not everyone hated me. I knew I was loved when on a social media website Ask.fm where people can ask anonymous quesitons, someone kept telling me I was annoying and that no one loves me and to stop using Aspergers as an excuse for being annoying. I posted that on Instagram and so many people came back saying sorry and that they always have my back. 10th, this year, got so much better. I've only been bullied by words by a couple kids and it's not as bad as it used to be. Those childhood kids I mentioned earlier, I still hang out with everyday at lunch. But, of course, I sometimes feel lonely and left out, because I constantly see on social media that they are hanging out and have parties that I'm never invited to. But, I've learned that I'm always still loved and no matter what they are always still my friends. I know now not to use my disability as an excuse for my behavior. I just want everyone to know to stay strong and to never give up. There are people out there who love you, even if it doesn't seem like it. There are people that are willing to be your friend and interact with you. I never used suicide as an excuse because I knew that I would be putting so many people in pain for the rest of your life. I have a motto for people, "don't put one life out of pain, only to put hundreds of others in pain forever." I know I may not feel loved but secretly I am loved by a lot more people than I think.

A academic, young inspirational young women, early for school everyday, meeting deadlines, head of every organisation in school, was actually unnaturally obsessive with fitness, suffered from depression, anxiety, panic and has been self-harming for 6 years. It was never the same again. This is my story. We all deal with our problems differently, some people choose o cry about it and feel helpless about it, some choose to talk, where as others like me choose to grab the problem by the throat, shove it in a tiny little box, lock it and through away the key. Which is what i did for 6 years of my life, although i was self harming in the process, it was my way of coping, my way of handling things. When ever i was angry or frustrated i would hold a straight face, no one could ever tell anything was wrong, if something had happened in school id act as though id taken it on the chin and continue with my day. Id come home, lock the door and cut, once it was all out of my system and walk away form it, hide the scissors till next time. It became a subconscious routine that everything bad that happened to me was because i was bad luck, and idea fed to em for so long from my family. I was always titles 'The black sheep of the family' because i was different, because i didn't conform to what they thought of as a "perfect daughter"- a "perfect daughter" is one who stays at home and works 24/7 one who wants to become a teacher and is religious who wants marriage and kids. I on the other hand do stay in, but like to go out too, i definitely cant become a teacher i have no patience for it, id like to me come an MP or a lawyer, i don't believe in religion or marriage, you can instantly see where the problem is. So for 6 years i tried conforming to what my family wanted, tried to be everything they wanted me to be, a "perfect daughter" a "perfect student" and a "perfect friend" i had no time to love myself or so what i wanted to do. Then one day i got myself a boyfriend, my first love and he taught me to love myself, he taught me that i no longer need to self-harm because i am beautiful in his eyes, we were together for a couple of months and it was perfect, and then i ran away from home, and we broke up, i left school for months and that was when the rumors began. I still to this day, months onward still don't know what exactly they were, there were just so many. I became involved in what i would call the dark arts of society, i knew nothing of it, id made new friends, it was the norm, and before long the suicide thoughts came flooding in I became depressed and anxious. I knew what people were saying and id become a violent person id lash out on the people closest to me, trying to help me the things i did were unspeakable of and i hate myself for it. Everyday was a struggle, and id curse the fact that i woke up the next morning, id try everything to end it all i just wanted silence, i wanted peace, i wanted to go somewhere where i could be happy and free. Id jump in front of cars, try causing internal bleeding cutting myself, downing tablets, nothing would work. Once day i realized just how strong i am, i'm humble about it still but i like to think of it as, all the greatest people on this earth had a story and a struggle and now i have mine. a quote given to me by a friend to which i still live by today 'God gave this hardest battles to his strongest warrior' and now for my 18th id like to get that tattooed over my scars. I realized that i didn't need to put on this tough girl attitude, believe that love doesn't exist, because it does, believe that emotions and asking for help makes you weak when in actual fact being broken and having the ability to fix yourself and ask for help is where real strength lies. So i went back to school. It was hard, not going to lie, there were time where i just wanted to leave again. it wasn't easy and it took time, but i got there eventually with the help of my deputy head. He was probably the only teacher who as truly there for me there were Councillors etc but that's their job they have to do it. It wasn't his job to take care of me, to motivate me and bring back that spark in me, but he did, and that's what I'm grateful for. He still believed in me, even when id given up on myself. Slowly but surely things got better, their not perfect but their the best of what i can hope them to be. My grades have finally come up again, missing so much school resulted in my grades to drop, but now I'm back up to my As. I received 2 places out of 3 of my collage interviews, my third interview is this week, so hopefully by the end of this week i can say that i have got into 3 of my collages i desired. I have a close group of friends who have been their for me form the start. My family still find it hard to come to terms with the fact that i am not religious and i refuse to get married any time soon. But i know what i want now. I want to finish my A-levels and go on to study Law or Economics, become a lawyer or a banker before going into politics i see a long life a head of me and maybe when i am 35 or 40 i might settle down and start a family, but for now its just me. 

Hello,I am Agnes Liong and am 23 years old. I am honored to be able to share my story and inspire others to always love themselves as they are, because everyone is uniquely beautiful in his or her own way. =) Wouldn't the world be boring if everyone was perfect? 

When I was 8, I moved from Indonesia to Germany due to the May 1998 Riot (political) war. This was resulted from race discrimination and I was fortunate enough to be able to escape to Germany. However, when I arrived in Germany, I felt lost and isolated. I was the only Asian girl at my school and every time I walked down the street, I never saw any Asians. I began to wonder if I was a mistake? Why couldn't I have fair skin and blue eyes like all the other people? Due to my skin color, Asian eyes, accent and petite height (German people were very tall), I experienced identity bullying. It affected my physically, emotionally and academically. Everyday I was afraid to go to school and every time we have a group assignment, I was always the last one who got picked. I had no friends, couldn't speak the language and had to become independent at a young age to help support my family in Indonesia. Hence, I knew giving up was not an option. I learned the German language within 5 months, created an German language program for international students at my school and thus succeeded to erase the communication barrier between the different ethnicities. The natives were impressed by the effort and hard work we put in to be able to blend in with them and as a result, we became good friends and together we started a local anti-bullying campaign. 

Right now I am a professional model for 4 years and Miss San Francisco Beauties of The Nation 2013 and Miss Germany International 2014. I would never taught that me, the 'ugly duckling' and 'weird Asian girl', can become a model and let alone win pageants? But I am the living proof that as long as you believe in yourself, work hard and persevere, you will accomplish your dreams with certainty! Never let anyone tell you, you are not good enough, you are not beautiful enough, you can never achieve your aspirations! God gift us all with unique and distinctive talent and beauty to make this world a better place. So, I hope with this story I motivate you to always face every challenge with a smile, because there is a beautiful light waiting for you at the end of the tunnel! <3 

Thank you for reading my story! ^_^

 

Sincerely,

Agnes Liong

Growing up i never had friends. I had maybe a few. I remember when i got to Jr.High their was these girls who didn't like me because a boy liked me instead of them and i was in the bathroom and they shoved me in the wall and said your worthless. Later that night one of the girls messaged me on facebook saying "Why don't you just kill yourself. Nobody likes you, cant you see that." so this happened the rest of the year and 8th grade came i moved schools and me a this girl got into a huge fight because her boyfriend kissed me. she told me in class that she would pull me by my hair and smash my face in the desk and she called me a whore and a slut. And moths went on and we got into a fight i got suspended for defending myself. But now im a Freshman and now honestly i don't care about what people have to say about me or what they think of me no matter how hurtful their words were i wasnt going to let that get to me. Ever. And thats my Bulling Story. 

Hi , my name is nakiya Newman I am 16 years old .., and I am going to tell you where all my bullying started , it was back in 5thgrade I felt like I wasn't meant to be at the school I was going to , people treated me as if I wasn't there , I got bullied a lot for not being in my right grade ., but in 5th I use to hide in the bathroom , I skipped lunch because I had no one to sit with .. And I didn't wanna look lonely , . . ;( but high school is where it got to me the most , 9th grade year I was so scared to go to basicly any of my classes because there was this boy who always bullied me .., I thought about killing myself because I couldn't take it anymore , but hen I realized it wouldn't make anything better ., :/stand up for what you believe in ., don't let bullying take over ♥

Anyone who has ever met me would probably say that on the outside, I probably look like your usual shy, quite, happy go lucky girl. But those who really know me would tell you that's only about half true. As a child, yeah that's about right, but then reality set in and so did the bullying. From the start of 2nd grade to the present day I have always been bullied by my peers. Be it about my size, weight, clothes, hobbies, you name it they said it. All my life I've always been considered thicker and taller than the average girl..... and nobody ever let me forget it. There would literally be times when I would sit at lunch in a corner and cry or starve myself because I didn't fit that modelesque picture that was considered the everyday norm. And you would think the worst offenders would be my peers bt, sadly, they were not. Not only was I dealing with the teasing and nit picking of my peers but ,on top of that, I was also dealing with an alcoholic of a mother, her selfish "fiance", an emotionally unattainablel father, my parents divorce, and the sexual assault of a close relative. Things at home were not easy to say the least. And they only seemed to get worse when my mother decided she was gonna have us live with her. There would be days when I would fear comin home because I never knew what mood she was going to be in. She wasn't ever physically abusive. Just emotionally and mentally. She was the starter of the whole weight thing. She would always have something to say about my size or come up with some "diet" plan for me to follow. Even once forcing me to take a laxative. Sometimes she would be so drunk that she would sit there and cry saying that nobody loved her. I would always sit there and say I did but she always said it wasn't the same or it wasn't good enough. And at the time I believed her and the kids at school. To them I wasn't good ebough, or thin enough , or pretty enough or just enough. Then I moved in with my dad. Things got a little better but the teasing at school never ended. It got so bad that I would come home and sit in my room, crying. Around this time was when my youngest brothers decided it would be fun to join in the teasing. Finally I made the dumbest and the hardest desicion ever. I took up cutting. It was the only thing that kept me sane, the only thing I had control over. I even almost attempted suicide once but nobody found out, nobody seemed to care enough to. For years I dealt with my losing battle for cutting. Thhe only thing that got me to finally stop, well I should say the only person who got me to stop, is my current bestfriend. He makes everything just that much eawsier to handle. Even to this day I still struggle with the cutting addiction and with the bullying but, its a lot easier to handle...... that is until the wrong people find out my secret.... which is that I'm lesbian.

At the age of 6 I learned to wrap a cast around my heart into and seal it tight behind four walls, because that was what a child did, because that was what someone did when they where hurt I hide behind a mask of fake smiles and laughs so thick that I couldn’t even remember the last time anything was real. The last time I was real. At the age of 12 I learned the meaning of pain when I walked through the school doors and the first thing I heard when I walked to my locker was "hey fatty do you ever stop eating''. They judged me, not because they knew my situation at home but because I was a little too big around the midsection for a kid my age. They taunted me, pushed around the words that I hates so much that at times I swore I heard myself chanting with them. The strangers at home the ones that were meant to love me set me aside for a sister who didn’t have a problem with drugs but a problem with wanting to be number one, but they never looked my way not even when I got a medal in the fifth grade for keeping up with the other kids or when I got a trophy for being the kindest person in a school that not only made the situation worse but the truth even more so, but what set me off in the ninth grab was when my mother, my sister, my teacher told me to "get over it” when they told me that every little thing I do wont matter because I’m going just another drop out like my parents. That I will never amount to anything, that I would never make it. I almost believed them.  At the age of 15 I learned what the color of my blood was, I learned that no matter how hard I tried to hide the wince every time the words I hated the most where slapped onto my face. It was useless and a year later I found myself so filled with pills and people’s ideas telling me that I was okay. That every time I talked all I heard was a ghost of every person that was there, every person that told me I wouldn’t make it. To this day I still hear the hunting echo’s, I still chant to them, but the strength I found in the room with the white walls and the locked door saved me. And that little girl that was a little too big around the midsection made it. I made it I want to see other make it to. I want to see others graduate not form the class of “we made it” but the class of “ be proud of who you are because you are beautiful”