From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam. This is My Unsung Hero,

stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

My unsung hero is a boy named Spencer.

He was my son.

Julie would drop off soup at our house.

I look forward to it every one. I would say thank you for giving me

one of the best gifts of my life.

Today's story comes from a woman named Jennifer. We're only using her first name to protect her privacy.

As a kid, Jennifer felt like she never quite fit in.

Her classmates made fun of her for being socially awkward and wearing

unfashionable clothes.

Going to school felt like torture.

But the bullying escalated to a whole new level in seventh grade.

There was a gang of girls that these days we'd call them the mean girls who made it their special hobby to torment me all year.

And they would wait for me in the hallway

at the end of class so that they could start picking on me

right away.

And they would corner me in this area

the school called the draw-off, where they would corner me in this area of the school called the draw off where they would kind of form a ring around me and insult me

and I had no defense against any of this. I would just whatever insult they said to me I just said right back to them so they would say you're stupid and I'd say no you're stupid

and so you're ugly and I'd say no you're ugly

The school year was terrible. I was miserable. My grades were terrible. I cried most days on the way home

...