This is very much in the spirit of the It Gets Better Project: an adult who was bullied for being gay reaches out to the administrators in the school district where she was bullied. Jen Grygiel offered to return to her high school in upstate New York and speak to current students. She got no response. So she's going over their heads and speaking directly to the students at Mt. Markham—whether school administrators want her to or not.

Please believe me when I tell you that I never thought I’d be able to say these words when I was in high school: I’m gay. I was bullied in elementary school by a group of high schoolers that rode the bus with me, and the self hatred continued from there. By the time I got to high school, I thought I was going to live my entire life in the closet. I honestly felt that there was no way for me to ever be myself, and I gave up hope. Thankfully, I had a great family, amazing friends and some wonderful teachers—I made it out of West Winfield, NY alive in 1997.

In the last fourteen years I’ve experienced some of the best moments of my life. I lived abroad in London and came out there. I got to teach high school photography for a year—very cool. My twin sister Melissa had twin girls a few years ago and also had a son. Her kids are the loves of my life, and I can’t imagine never knowing them, or being there for them. I’ve been with my partner now for two and a half years and it’s my dream, since it was legalized in 2004, to get married some day. Gay marriage wasn’t legal when I was in high school; I literally didn’t know how to dream about it. Now I’m a big dreamer. I kinda think anything is possible, like graduating from Harvard, because I’ve seen society change so much in just my lifetime. I hope that all students at Mt. Markham will be as fortunate as I am. And I hope that you all will go back to your schools some day to share your stories and help inspire those behind you to love more and to be better people.

Grygiel is asking people who might know someone at Mt. Markham to pass her post along via Twitter and Facebook. Her blog is here.