Overcoming Shyness

College Confidential Community
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<p>I just found out about this site a couple hours ago, and it's really interesting. I saw a bunch of posts about people generally being shy, and looking for help in finding a college which would accomodate their shyness. It doesn't make sense to me to try to accomodate for a weakness rather than try to overcome it.</p>

<p>I used to be shy, but overcame over about half a year. I was miserable being shy and introverted, and overcoming shyness is the single greatest achievement of my life. Yesterday, I knew that I was on the right path in my goal of fearlessness, when I approached some girls in their twenties I hadn't met before at some party, and they mentioned during the conversation that at University at Chicago, they wouldn't just approach some random people like that. It made me glow and made me pretty proud of myself.</p>

<p>Does anyone else have experience overcoming shyness, or anything like that which they initially felt they were just born with?</p>

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<p>i completely agree with you but i dont think its the best accomplishment because its equal with school work</p>

<p>for me its confidence and education</p>

<p>i used to be scared ****less of talking to girls and even guys</p>

<p>with guys i felt like the things that would come out of my mouth always made them say lmfao fag or your so random because i was scared to talk and when i did id say something forcefully stupid</p>

<p>with girls i always felt girls thought i was dirty or weird (but i seemed like the average person) and i felt that if i talked to them they would roll their eyes</p>

<p>so to the point, my main fear with girls was that they would not talk to me, i.e. if i started a convo theyd give short answers</p>

<p>but i toughened up and my first times with random girls made me frigthened and i do admit i sounded stupid but i got better</p>

<p>one thing i did notice though, is that all of the times i started a convo with a girl not once did they try to get out of the convo, in fact they brought up more discussions</p>

<p>and every time i started a convo even still it just gets better, i wont say im completely confident, because i do hesitate but i will go up to a girl if i want, heck yesterday at this job thing i was talking with two girls at once and i swear these girls were taking turns talking to me and even interupting each other..why? because i made my self confident so they percieved me a knowing everything, which i did. also a key thing i do is smile when i talk to them and almost every girl i talk to smiles at me the whole time in a good way...they see my smile as mysterious and sometimes ask me why im smiling (in a good way) and i ask them why they are smiling, oh p.s. the people who say that pass me by and say hey its the guy with the nice smile (the first couple of times)</p>

<p>p.s. its like a routine/job you might think conversations are impossible but like a job at first your scared and don't know what to do but then you excell at it, oh and start with anyone not only good looking girls and bring up topics your a pro at school, politics, etc</p>

<p>this also helped me become a better person and do well in school</p>

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<p>Change your username to barack_obama, since he's more popular.</p>

<p>/sarcasm</p>

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<p>Personally, I like my shyness.</p>

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<p>Why do you like being shy?</p>

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<p>my shyness pretty much ruined my life from age 8-18. i've really gotten over it since then, but i'll always be an introvert, and wouldn't have it any other way. shyness can be life-inhibiting, introversion isn't...it's a part of who you are.</p>

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<p>Great point, swattransfer.</p>

<p>I used to be a bit more shy as well as scared to death of talking in front of even a small class. I've overcome it a lot by my leadership positions at school, actually, and surprisingly from playing solos in the school bands. I still have some work to do, but it's really a great feeling to more readily speak to new people and to large groups with confidence. I'm definitely an introvert as long social sessions wear me out, but when I want to be social it's a little easier. All-around confidence, not just socially, is such a wonderful trait to develop.</p>

<p>I still need more work on starting up conversations with people I don't know too well. Hopefully I'll get some practice when I leave for college this Friday! I suspect it'll be easier since I'll find many more people with my interests.</p>

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<p>why is this even a thread?</p>

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<p>Social</a> Skydiving: The Art of Talking to Strangers</p>

<p>This is an interesting idea that I'm going to try out in the next few months. I don't want to wait till college to do it, because talking to strangers at college is too easy.</p>

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<p>"Why do you like being shy?"</p>

<p>Its part of who I am. It makes me cuter, and I don't see it as some big obstacle to overcome or something I want to change. If something is important enough to necessitate my overcoming it, I can just take the unpleasantness; if it isn't, then it isn't a big deal. I don't feel I am missing a lot by shying out of social interaction... most of it is so mundane, boring, insincere, and repetitive. I like the perspective I get from being isolated.</p>

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<p>I'm with you guys george and score...</p>

<p>I think you're right on George. I've been pretty shy and lacking in self confidence my whole life. Rather than go somewhere that I could avoid getting over this, I chose a large college in a different region of the country where I could interact with all sorts of people of different backgrounds. </p>

<p>I've just started college, and already I've made a few friends by putting myself out there. Today I just went up and sat next to a girl I didn't know at the dining hall during breakfast and it went really well. Hopefully I can continue like you guys...</p>