Overcoming Social Anxiety in High School

Charles Spurgeon said “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” I never really thought about this until I started high school. I didn’t really have social anxiety until high school. Whenever I was called on or we were in groups, I would get anxiety so I told my mom about it and asked if I could do online school.
I never really had social anxiety until last summer. Whenever we went shopping or anywhere where there were a lot of people, I would get kind of scared or stay really close to my mom. When I started high school, it was even worse. I had a hard time looking people in the face and when we were in big groups I would cower behind. I only talked to my close friends and I even had a hard time raising my hand or talking to my teachers.
I asked my mom if I could do online school and she said no. I would ask her every day and I probably annoyed her. My sister, Wyn, who has curly red hair and freckles, can be very persuasive, so asked her to talk to our mom about it. She would only do it if I gave her something. We went back and forth negotiating the price.
“How about $2 if you

talk to her and $5 if we can do it,” I would ask.
“No, way. $10 if I talk to her and $15 if she says yes,” Wyn would counter.
We kept going until it ended with $5 if she talked to her and $10 if she got her to let us. She ended up persuading her so we started to get all of the forms in and waited for our start day.
My sister thought that I meant she would get $5 and $10 but I meant just $10.

We had a little argument. I gave her the $10 and that was it. I told all of my friends that I was switching to online school and they didn’t want me to leave they tried to make me change my mind but I really needed to go to online school. My friend, Duncan’s, sister goes to the same school that I signed up for so he told me a little about it. When we got our start date I was very excited to start online school because you can go at your own pace. At my old school I always finished all of my work before everyone and would just sit there until the end of class because there was nothing else to do. Sometimes I would read. Some days I would forget my book and just sit and wait for someone else to be done or just stare at the clock and wait for the class to be

over.
On my first day I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know how it was going to work. It ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be and I was able to complete all of my assignments and attend all of the class connects. I was kind of nervous during the class connects because I didn’t know the teachers and the students but they were all very nice and I was able to get through the day. It wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be but I liked it. I would like it a little more if I could work a little faster because I almost finished most of the assignments but they are not due so I have to wait for the rest of the class. Also I work better when I teach myself and I’m not a big fan of the class connects, but other than that I like it a lot.
I learned a lot of different things during this experience: There’s always a solution to problems, even anxiety. Always be specific when negotiating. If at first you don’t succeed try again, and if you still don’t succeed, ask for help. Things aren’t always what you expect, but that can be a good thing. I will always remember this big change in my life.