Dear Gifted Kid, Congrats, you're gifted. Don't ask me what that's supposed to mean. I know what you're feeling. I understand the gauntlet you're going through called "middle school." I know your struggles. And I have some things that I need you to understand. 1. You are not better than the other students. I say this with love. I know that it's so hard to admit sometimes, but deep down there is a part of you that thinks you are better than them. You are no more (or less!) of a human being than they are. You are wonderful- of course. But so are they. Reach out to them. Listen to their ideas, even if they're not very good ones. Let other people raise their hands (I'm looking at you, Little Me). I know everyone is stuffing your butt with sunshine, but you need to block their praise out sometimes. Don't let them put you on a mile-high pedestal; it hurts so  much when you fall. 2. You will fall! Seriously. Get ready. You will hit a

I'm sick of living in a world where 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused before they're even 16. I'm sick of being told that I am no more than my body, an object of entertainment on tv and billboards to be bought and sold as men like it. I'm sick of a world where men fear that women might threaten their masculinity, but women fear that men might threaten their life. I'm sick of hearing people joke and throw the words rape and abuse around like baseballs when they're as heavy as concrete and hurt even more when wielded. No, I've never been raped, but i shouldn't have to to know it's wrong. I'm sick of being powerless to fight the overbearing weight of rape culture, where girls are taught how to restrict themselves to defend themselves, but men are rarely taught not to attack. I'm sick of the numbers that we drown in but ignore, the statistics of human beings ground into packaged pleasure, the ultimate expression of love twisted into the