I had (and still have) wonderfully supportive parents and a great childhood. I am an only child, so growing up I had to learn to entertain myself. This is where the fun began. Much of my early memory includes my dad working and my mom sleeping, so I'd go into the kitchen and try to "cook" something. Once I tried making Reese's peanut butter cups using globs of peanut butter covered in chocolate syrup, then put into paper muffin cups in the freezer. They didn't taste good. I was always into crafts, and looked forward to the middle of the month when the new issue of Highlights for Children would come in the mail so I could go to the crafts page. Once I made a skirt out of fabric scraps and glue!

I had a great childhood up until late elementary school and early middle school. When the bullying began, so did the earliest symptoms of what would become an anxiety disorder and possibly depression. This was in fifth-sixth grade.

I'm not crazy, because what is normal? My childhood and upbringing are not responsible for the problems I face today. My problems stem from the maladaptive way I dealt with unfortunate yet typical childhood experiences, such as the bullying. Really, I didn't handle it as well as I could have - but at 11 years old, how was I to know the right way?