At 7 years old, Denise Sallee sat on the top bunk in her bedroom and asked her mother if she could kill herself by jumping off the bed head first.

Denise, now a sophomore, was singled out ever since she stepped into school in the first grade, which is where the suicidal thoughts were triggered. According to Denise, the bullying was because of intelligence.

“I wouldn’t really be paying attention in class, and I talked differently than the other kids. I used bigger words than most 5-year-old kids like ‘disastrous’ and no one really knew what I meant,” Denise said. “I didn’t really fit in because I was ahead of them academically.”

While Denise’s intelligence was the primary cause of the eye rolling and name calling, she had no idea why the bullying continued into second grade and beyond. The sadness radiating off Denise followed her home.

“There was just a general lack of enthusiasm to go to school. Never a complete refusal, though,” Heidi Sallee, her mom, said. “Also, she was just generally unhappy all the time. She got upset very easily at home, and it went on for many years.”

An uneasy feeling followed Denise during her youth, and she felt there was nothing at the time to help her escape self-consciousness and a lost hope to fit in with her classmates.

“I just felt helpless and no one would listen. No one believed it would be that bad for a little kid,” Denise said. “First through fourth grade, I was extremely depressed.”

It  was  during  these years – mainly in second grade – Denise had enough of the endless taunting and teasing. Her mom happened to be present when she almost took her own life. Denise was sitting on the top of her bunk bed when Heidi walked in, asking what her daughter was thinking about.

Denise answered with, “I was just thinking of whether or not it would kill me if I jumped head first off the bed.” That was the point when her parents decided Denise needed someone to talk to, who could finally understand her.

Denise’s mom signed her up for the Nipher Middle School Girl Scout troop in her seventh grade year. Immediately there was a change in Denise and she finally had close friends to confide in. And with the new friendships came a new-found positive and happy attitude.

“I started more positively. I finally realized that I didn’t deserve to be called ugly and other horrible names, unlike before when I thought those people were right to do that. I just had to think about it in a different way,” Denise said.

Her change in attitude and love for her Girl Scout troop fit in seamlessly with the rest of the girls, her real friends.

“[The Girl Scouts] are all just kind of crazy, and Denise is too, in a really good way – so she fit right in,” Caroline Byrd, sophomore and friend of Denise, said. “She’s just really happy all the time and always upbeat.”

Not only did Denise’s social life improve, but her time in school had taken a turn for the better as well. Heidi remembers a specific time where Denise finally knew she would not take anymore bullying.

“We always had told her to stand up for herself. One of the meanest girls in her class ended up asking Denise for help on some math problems and Denise actually said ‘No, that’s not okay at all.’ She was getting better,” Heidi said.

In eighth grade Denise did more than just stand up for herself – she broke away from her haunting situation at school and decided she would come to KHS for the next step in her education. After shadowing one of her in Girl Scout troop friends eighth grade, she knew she would fit in.

“I had always heard really good things about the school,” Denise said. “It just had a great vibe to it, and everyone is so much happier here.”