I am scared to go to sleep-away camp!!?

[Mopsie P]

I am scared I am going to be a loser and have no friends. Because thats what happened with my previous camp. It is a very free non-competitive camp so I am scared that if I don't have friends what I am going to do. I am going for 3 weeks. I am 13 I think I started to late and everyone may already know eachother and will judge me on my appearences. I am kind of shy. How can I not be worried and make friends. How can I not be shy and I want best camp friends..like I want them to be my sisters...the ones I can tell everything too! I am scared I am going to have no friends and make a bad impression !!! HELP!!

 

[Carrie]

First thing you need to do is take a deep breath.

If you head to camp with the thinking only that nothing will go right and you'll have no friends, that's probably what's going to happen. Being that stressed and uptight and worried about it will actually get in the way of making friends--people who are so self-conscious and nervous are difficult to connect to, since they often put up a protective "barrier", emotionally speaking.

If you do your best to calm down about the situation and go into it with an open mind (remembering that other people are probably just as nervous about being judged as you), you will find that people respond to you much more positively.

You're going to be fine, just try to relax and don't force it! Friends come naturally, so just be yourself.