Alright. I'm a junior in high school, with absolutely no friends. I don't really know why, either. I do try to talk to people, but I can't make friends with them. It really only started getting to me now, too...in the middle of lunch today, I looked around, saw a sea of people eating with friends, laughing, having fun, living a typical high school life, but I'm all alone.
So! Any tips on making friends? I'm in a pretty small school - there are 100 people in my grade. Is it too late? Everyone's pretty much already in cliques from what I've observed (without friends, I have a lot of time to observe...) Anyways, I can't really interact with people all that well either, I think, so any tips? I did look through this board already, and I already tried talking to people in my class and stuff, but no results - the convos die after a few minutes. Yeah.
Does your school have clubs, a theater group, etc? Which extra-curricular activities are going on in your school? Inform yourself on that and tell us the results (yup, you need to move your ass too).
Otherwise >>2 has a point, you can find people outside school (same technique, find activity groups which cater for your interests, like sport clubs, classes, hiking groups, hobby clubs, etc). Of course, that won't solve your loneliness problem at school
So if you really want to make friends in your school, and there really are no activities that engage you (hard to believe, but whatever), then review your interests, how you could share them with others, and try to find people with similar interests. You can do this by chatting with people at PE, or when you have group studies or works, etc. A really easy way to start is by exchanging DVDs or music, etc.
>>3
>>2 here. I actually meant for him to see people from his school outside school. It changes the dynamics of the contact, and makes it easier to make "friends". I've noticed that most people through education are just acquaintaces and stay that way unless you start seeing them out of school.
Have someone come over at your house or get invited to theirs, that way you start to enter each other's "world". It's a cool shortcut to bonding, and obviously is a good way to introduce discussion topics and/or activities.
Every clique will take on new members. Just worry about making friends with one person and that one might bring you into the circle. Just be careful who you choose, because changing your mind could earn you enemies, which are like friends but openly hostile rather than merely passive aggressive.
>>4 you have an excellent point, it was good that you developed it further.
OP here.
>>3
The club fair hasn't started yet this year, but from I remember last year, we had a debate team, model UN, Key club, Gay-Straight Alliance, anime club, video game club, Asian club, and that's pretty much it. I'm pretty interested in video games, so I went a few times, but the system was pretty disorganized and all they played were FPS's, which I'm not into very much.
>>4
Thanks for the advice! I'll try to get to know people well enough to ask them to come over to my house or invite me over to theirs, then. Trouble being I've never invited anyone to my house so I don't know proper house-inviting etiquette.
So basically, what I do is try to join a club (I'll see the new offerings this year), get to know someone so that they might bring me into the circle, and try to see people outside school?
>what I do is try to join a club [...], get to know someone so that they might bring me into the circle, and try to see people outside school?
You got it, but dude, try to be a bit more pro-active. If in your video-games club they don't play the kind of games you want, then promote the time of games you want. Probably other people will get interested. You don't always have to wait for things to happen to you, you can also make them happen.
>Trouble being I've never invited anyone to my house so I don't know proper house-inviting etiquette.
C'mon, you're young, people don't care. Just don't touch other's stuff or be too invasive if you're invited, and if you're inviting, just tell people to relax and enjoy. Offer them a drink, and make sure they're comfortable. Other than that, don't worry, they're just like you, they wanna have fun and that's about it.
Join a few of the clubs, as many as you can manage, the most liked people are obviously the ones who get around a lot and are friendly wherever they go, it's also increasing your chances of meeting someone you really click well with.
Start smoking weed (seriously), you'll fit in with everybody.