I miss it already and I've only just left
I wouldn't change a thing about my school days and I'm glad I met the people I did. I totally get what people mean about having anxiety around others, sometimes I felt like I couldn't be myself around a few people. The good thing about me is that I never changed for anybody, but I felt like certain people (even a few in my friendship group) didn't like how much of an individual I was.
I didn't like how reluctant I was to get to know teachers on a friendship level. Especially at sixth form it felt like some people had gained a special bond with specific teachers, but I still felt like a pupil to them. I think a few of them felt like I was cold, but in reality it was because I found it weird speaking to them as if I was an adult, so ultimately it was my fault but I just didn't like growing up.
It's weird how my confidence has been knocked a little as I've grown up, especially because as a child I could be seen more of a target (being gay is obviously something young kids pick up on, and it was one of those cases where they knew before me). But thankfully, I've never been bullied, and there's nobody at school I REALLY hate or hated. There were a few people who really got on my nerves in the year above, but luckily I had even more support from people in other years.
I'm just happy that I never gave a **** about people who were so negative, and I never backed down from my own thoughts even with teachers/friends/whoever. The positives from my school life definitely outweigh the negatives.