UVA Shy-Guy

Q: I'm a shy (painfully so) 17-year old guy who's starting freshman year at the U. of Virginia. I clam up whenever I'm around girls. What can I do to meet someone nice who won't make me feel like hurling wit nerves?

Anne: Poor thing! I'm shy myself, so I can sympathize. Unfortunately, there's no easy cure. The thing that works best--I think--is to try to meet someone who shares your interests, and then you have something to build on. So if you attend church, join the youth group and meet girls who also like going to church. Strike up a conversation with girls in your classes, giving you a ready topic. Also, sometimes you can double date with a girl a friend sets you up with. Then you aren't alone, relying on either your date or you to keep up all the conversation. One more thing. Don't expect everything to work out in the first week you're at school. There will be enough going on that's new and different. Take time to acclimate yourself before adding pressure to date. Good luck.

Dee: What she said.

And this. If you'd gone to VMI like Jack did, you'd have had all the dates in the world because everyone knows guys in uniform are nigh impossible to resist. Or at least, that's what Jack kept telling me.