I used to enjoy going to school up until middle school, specifically up to 8th grade. Ninth grade was the worst. It was in 2019. I had transferred to a religious school because the education there was better, even though I wasn’t religious. I had actually studied there before, back in 4th and 5th grades. I thought that by meeting some people who had been in my class before, I wouldn’t be completely alone. Well, I was wrong. At the beginning of the school year, as the new student, I became the center of attention among the boys and girls. They talked to me and included me, but I was always too shy to socialize much. As the year went by, I still hadn’t made any friends. All those initial conversations faded away. Everyone in that class already had their own groups of friends and pairs. I felt extremely lonely. Everyone around me laughed, talked, and had fun, while I... was there, alone in the middle of them. I hated it when the teacher asked us to form pairs, trios, or groups for presentations or class tasks, because I was always the last one to be chosen. I was just a spectator, watching everyone come together while I was left out, a burden no one wanted. I remember once the teacher asked me to sit with two girls who were best friends, and I felt uncomfortable. Even though they treated me politely, I knew they didn’t really want me there. I would skip school on days when we had to present in front of the class because I was afraid of being laughed at. That only made things worse, as they started including me even less in their groups. PE was no different. I was always the leftover when teams were formed, and on top of that, I was terrible at sports, so... yeah. Earlier that year, I found out that some boys in my class had talked about me, saying unpleasant things about my looks and my smile. It affected me so deeply that, at the time, I blamed myself and told myself they were right. I don’t blame myself anymore, but I’ve never fully healed from those traumas. One time, a group of girls from another class mocked me right in front of me. They were using Instagram filters that made me look ridiculous. At first, I didn’t realize what was happening, but as soon as I did, I turned my back to them and felt like crying. My grades kept dropping, and eventually, I failed the school year. I left that school, a place I should never have returned to in the first place. It was humiliating and shameful. I had never experienced anything like that at any other school. I had always had friends in middle school, and they treated me well. I still carry many good memories from that time… High school wasn’t as difficult as I had expected, but I was going through severe depression and ended up withdrawing. I finished the last two years of high school at home, doing my schoolwork and sending it to the school. That was the end of a cycle for me. I didn’t graduate with my class, because I felt that it was the end of everything. I was already tired of school.