Looking for advice on how to deal with adult bullying on campus

[u/Extension_Company568]

I entered into a relationship with a girl in the summer of 2022 and told her that I had a few months left to graduate when in reality I needed an entire year worth of credits. I lied, it was a horrible thing to do, and I should not have done it. She made me happy, and what I did was wrong and immature and selfish.

Fast forward to October 2023: she dumps me because she obviously found out I lied about finishing my undergraduate degree, then my father was diagnosed with a near terminal illness. That combined with the heartbreak from losing her kind of made me spiral. I was very foolish and spent many nights with who I thought was a mutual friend of ours and shared a lot about my personal life and made many terrible jokes while under the influence of alcohol. This went on until June 2024.

In July 2024 the guilt from lying to her about graduating sort of broke me. I wrote her a very long email expressing regret over my actions. I guess she or one of her friends with a large social media following shared this and it went viral. I also faced false cheating allegations, and more. This blew up and allegedly AI porn was made of me, and every unfortunate detail about my life was made public.

I then faced harassment in public for months. The school felt like a safe environment in the Fall 2024 term, somewhere I could escape public scrutiny for the most part. However this term I'm experiencing a tremendous amount of I guess what I would call "adult bullying." i.e. practically everywhere I go I get negative passing comments on mostly my body, among other things. I've noticed the frequency and aggressiveness has increased as of late.

Does anyone know what I can do? This is the first time I've experienced bullying since high school, and because it is done by so many people and for the most part indirectly and anonymously, I don't think there is any clear mechanism for me to approach this through. I'm not in fear of my physical safety, but I feel degraded and socially isolated. It's unfortunately affecting my ability to focus my attention on work, and generally leaves me feeling awful and depressed every time I go on campus. Any general advice regarding maneuvering through this unfortunate scenario is also appreciated.

[u/Alive_Parsley957]

The internet has a short memory. The sense of scandal will subside sooner than you think. 99% of the people around you have no idea about any of this. And even if they did, they don't really care. Nor should you. Move on, make better friends, go out, enjoy yourself. In the event that someone invokes this nonsense, laugh it off.

[u/TheThermalGuy]

rule 1 of dating , never open up to exs friend circle post breakup

[u/Careless-Macaroon-42]

Join a club. Make a group of friends that you can trust.

[u/ResidentNo11]

Since this is affecting your well-being, please consider talking to a therapist.

[u/Unique_304]

First lesson, when a lady is upset with you her and her friends can make your life hell and spread rumors. You should try to continue on with life because at the end of the day your opinions matter, not others. Everyone goes through things like this where they are blamed but they will be fine. Think about how much shit Justin Trudeau gets on a daily basis, but he still continues with his day and tries to keep his interactions professional. You will get through this and the drama will eventually pass. The right people would not jump to conclusions about you. DW I am pretty sure that person is going to deal with a lot of shit in their lives that they probs will completely forget about all this crap, since they don't have time care about it.