Actually Asten

There’s this idea people love to push:
“That school is the best time of your life.”

They talk about lifelong friendships, coming-of-age moments, prom, leavers’ hoodies. They paint it like a golden age. A highlight reel.

But for me? It wasn’t like that.
By the time prom came around, I wasn’t even in mainstream school anymore.
Because I’d been bullied out of it.

I don’t say that for sympathy — I say it because it’s the truth. And it’s a truth I carried for a long time, like a secret I wasn’t supposed to share. Like it was something I had to be ashamed of.

But I’m not ashamed anymore.

Because when I look back, I don’t see a lack of prom, or popularity, or perfect school memories. I see a girl who survived something hard — something unfair — and still found ways to be kind, creative, funny, and strong.

They didn’t celebrate me back then.
So now? I celebrate myself.

I celebrate the weird, wonderful things that make me me.
The stimming, the special interests, the nostalgia rabbit holes, the writing I used to keep in my head because I was too scared to say it out loud.
I celebrate the voice I found — and the people who finally listen.

I’m not who they said I was.
I never was.

They didn’t get to see me grow up into the woman I am now — and honestly? That’s their loss.

Daisy’s Corner:
“Imagine bullying someone who ends up thriving, thriving, and oh yeah — THRIVING. Hope you enjoy your Tesco meal deal, babes. Asten’s out here building an empire.”

I didn’t get a school disco send-off.
I didn’t wear a leavers’ dress.
But I’ve got something better:
The life I’m building now. The love I’ve found. The joy I create. The wedding I get to plan with the person who sees the real me.

School didn’t celebrate me.
So now? I do.