I still feel horrible about how mean and cliquey we were, but I definitely learned my lesson and never acted that way again.” - Amelia, 22 My friends and I got in trouble for bullying after the girl’s mom called our moms crying. I’m pretty sure we got the idea from Mean Girls. I would stay silent on the line, while my friend would encourage the girl to say mean things about me, and then I would reveal that I was on the phone too, and she could never be our friend now. When I got back, one of my friends placed a secret three-way call with me and the girl. While I was on vacation with my family, my other three friends acted close to her and let her be the temporary fourth member. We were pretty nice to her face, but we didn’t want her to be part of the group, so we devised a strategy that summer.
In the fifth grade, another girl tried to slide into the friendship. “Ever since first grade, my three best friends and I were a super tight clique. These two guys came up to me and asked if they could call me stingray ‘ because you’re really flat.’ I’m pretty sure the name continued for the rest of that school year.” - Caroline, 22
“I’ve always been super flat-chested and I’m still totally traumatized by something that happened in seventh grade. This girl who hated and bullied me walked into the bathroom, saw my shoes, and said, ‘Oh my god, I love your shoes.’ She then walked out and I kid you not, it was like Regina George in Mean Girls scene where she compliments the skirt and then when the girl walks away, she says, ‘That’s the ugliest effing skirt I’ve ever seen.’” - Mandy, 23 “One time, my freshman year of high school, I was wearing weird Nike sneakers. So I had to pretty much start from negative scratch to build a reputation I actually liked for myself while everyone else was calling me a slut for unknowingly talking to someone else’s boyfriend." - Elle, 22 Mind you, I had never met any of the guys I had apparently hooked up with. The girls spread rumors that I was a slut and I was hearing how I hooked up with all these boys after the first week. I later found out that the boy was dating one of the girls. A guy started talking to me and the whole time, these two girls were whispering to each other while looking directly at me. That first week I introduced myself in every class - so people would at least know my name - which severely backfired during gym. Nobody likes ‘fresh meat,’ especially girls. “We’re committed to recognizing the contributions of artists to our community and bolstering the retention and attraction of creative talent that make Columbus a great place for businesses and our workers,” Akins said.įor more business headlines, go to .“I was fresh off of moving to a new town and entering my freshman year in a high school where I knew nobody. “We believe strongly in supporting the artists working in our community,” AEP CEO Nick Akins said in a statement. No ticket tax revenue or other public dollars support it. The endowment, which was established in late 2014, is supported by individual and foundation gifts. The $20,000 grants are “focused on providing substantial funds to Columbus-based artists who have been working professionally for at least three years, and are intended to provide a more meaningful investment in moving an artist forward in their career,” according to GCAC. Simpson, a dancer and choreographer, will use her award to study West African dancing at home and abroad. Lane is a theater director, writer and actor who hopes to create a local festival featuring plays with local theater artists and musicians. The first two grant recipients, also announced earlier this month, are Erika Tay Lane and Quianna Simpson. This grant is really going to help us launch that fundraising effort.” “This is going to be a landmark city for artists as we grow this endowment. “This is a very unique program,” Katzenmeyer said. He said he wants to continue to raise money in order to grow the number of awards. Grants are made annually off the earnings.Ĭurrently, Katzenmeyer told us that GCAC’s endowment is generating enough revenue to make two $20,000 grants annually to artists. GCAC’s endowment had a balance of about $1 million before AEP’s donation. The donation “will have a tremendous impact on artists in our community for years to come,” Tom Katzenmeyer, president and CEO of GCAC, said in a statement. The American Electric Power Foundation earlier this month announced it would commit $1 million to be paid to the endowment over four years. COLUMBUS, Ohio ( COLUMBUS BUSINESS FIRST)–A $1 million donation to the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s endowment will allow it to double in size and better support local artists across the region.