I took me years to no longer be afraid of the dark and no longer flinch when someone came towards me. I still have panic attacks when I look at that old elementary building that is now a rehab center. It was a place of suffering and torment for me. Every day I was bullied for the smallest things; my hairstyle, my body, my intelligence; basically existing. One teacher in particular made it worse by belittling me until the day he thought I was cheating.( I had a habit of looking around the room and associating items in the room for remembering items on tests. ) He held me after class during recess and started advancing to my desk angrily. He tipped my desk backwards and I was knocked over my chair and hit my head on the desk behind me and fell to the floor. He then proceeded to try and hit me but I somehow managed the courage to run out the door as he chased me towards the restroom. I locked myself in a stall as the lights went out and made myself as small as possible. I heard footsteps but they never reached the stall I was in as he was called away he shut the door (back then they locked automatically it was in the 90’s). I was eventually let out by a teacher needing the restroom. I reported him after but he ended up still teaching and I was placed in the classroom next door. I was blamed for years by my peers because he couldn’t teach them again for the following year.(The teachers taught for two years in a row for certain levels) The bullying became worse and I was locked in dark bathrooms a lot back then (even after switching schools). I even had to make alternate routes just to avoid that ahole for several years. I even thought it was over when I switched schools but the elementary used our auditorium every year. To sum it up I was bullied until the day I officially graduated. I suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally for years. I still have scars from it they may not be visible but they’re still with me. I now suffer from an anxiety disorder as a result.