Your life is not over! No matter the amount of sexual harassment, bullying, name calling, or hurting, taking your life is never the answer.

My parents split when I was 5. I mostly lived with my mother until I was 12. Then she decided to skip state in the middle of a custody battle, thus giving my father full custody and taking us back to New York. I was 12 years old I'd never lived with my father, only had seen him on weekends with my stepmom. She was the definition of a wicked stepmother. I never talked to anyone about anything. Not my period, not smoking, not pot, not having sex, not battling alcoholism senior year. And not to blame my parents at all, but I couldn't go to my them and have them understand I was getting curious and teach me about life. They were just rash about things and punished me for having a boyfriend. Everything they told me I couldn't do or couldn't have made me do it that much more. I don't feel like my father ever loved me. Ever. In high school I lived in a small town. Every single person and their brothers, sisters, moms, and dads knew the day I lost my virginity, how it happened, where it happened, and that I cried like a little wimp after. I cried because I felt like I lost a piece of me. This was about January in 9th grade. I lost my virginity and got labeled a slut. People called me nasty names and teased me, saying, "I heard the carpet matches the drapes." I was called "fire crotch." Oh and I can't tell you how many times people said I was pregnant. I'll never forget the time this guy told me how much he liked me and never would tell if I sent him a dirty picture. So I took my shirt off and snapped away. Picked one I liked and sent it like it was no big deal. Until I walked into school the next day and by second period I was mortified. It seemed that almost every single person had my naked body on their phones. There were a lot of guys who said they slept with me and they hadn't. I was the "fire crotch slut" who would have sex. Like they weren't all doing it, too. The popular kids with money were the worst. Then 11th grade rolled around I was getting drunk a lot. Smoking pot heavily almost every day. Popping pills, whatever anyone would give me. Adderall was my pill of choice. I sold them. I bought more drugs and alcohol. Then I became the hot mess at parties, sleeping with guys. Then in 12th grade I got kicked out of school because someone had my bowl in their car and they snitched on me. Graduated anyway and every single day I would get out of school at 10:45 and be so drunk by noon that I couldn't walk to the store to get cigarettes. There really wasn't one person around town that liked me. So I drowned my sorrows in sex, drugs, and partying. I only felt accepted when I was being used. There were many times I thought how much life wasn't worth living because on a daily basis a majority of girls and guys would call me "slut." Guys who wanted me would just assume that I'd slept with everyone else, so why not them? Guys I went to school with would offer me drugs for sex; it's the only time I've ever said no. I would not compromise myself like that. It is today that I feel like I know what respecting myself means. The whole point of telling all this is: GIRLS, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING JUST BECAUSE A GUY PRESSURES YOU. And if you get raped, press charges! Your life is not over! No matter the amount of sexual harassment, bullying, name calling, or hurting, taking your life is never the answer. I could picture how I'd do it but inside I never could. That wasn't a sign of weakness, that was a sign that my journey wasn't over. Today I am a single mother and my son is my life. I had a greater purpose and it was this little boy. I was a drug addict before I got pregnant and he saved my life. And I am not perfect, but if there's one thing I've learned from my parents, it is how NOT to raise a child. It is my goal to show my son that no matter how fat, short, ugly, unpopular, pretty, or popular she is, he never has a right to disrespect a female. My goal as well is to make a difference in young girls' lives like the creator of this project did for me today. Thank you for that.