My high school experience

My High School Experience Some people look back at their high school life as a time of carefree adventure. It is normally the time of life when the child is separating from the adult, thus causing much emotional turmoil for them. In my case, I saw my high school life as a time for understanding my peers and using the knowledge that I gained to help me chart my path in life.
I was not the tallest person on my class nor was I the brightest. But I was a persevering student who mostly kept to himself. I did not feel that I was at par with my classmates in the economic aspect of life which is why I did my best to stay out of their way. Unfortunately, coming from a lower income bracket than the rest of my peers meant that I wore a target on my back. If the guys in gym class needed someone to pick on, that would be me.
After gym class one day, my classmates found a way to get into my gym locker and take my clothes. So there I stood in the middle of the gym, being heckled and teased by my classmates. They picked on everything from my skin color to the size of my male anatomy. I was so angry with them. I wanted to hit them but I did not want to get suspended from school for fighting. So it was a real blessing that our coach came into the locker room when he did.
Our coach asked me to report to the guidance office after class for some counseling. He said that I needed to discuss what had happened to me so that I could get over the humiliation of what happened and I would understand that what happened was not my fault. Counseling helped me understand that bullies were only powerful because I allowed them to have power over me. I was just as to blame for what was happening to me as were the bullies because I chose to let it happen. I did not have to get violent to make the bullying end, I had options, and thanks to counseling, I finally knew what those options where.
It was because of the sound counseling of our school guidance counselor that I finally took stock of the things that were happening to me in high school. I learned how to be more mature than my classmates and use my words and the proper school authorities to make them stop treating me badly. Just because I was not equal to them economically did not mean that I was not their equal as a person. On the contrary, we were all the same, high school students, not one better than the other, regardless of finances. And that is the mindset that I have carried with me to this very day. Not one person is better than me. We are all equal in every way.