The
transition from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high
school can be pretty scary. It’s a big change, especially from elementary
school to middle school. You go from sitting in one class with the same teacher
to having six different teachers and going from class to class. Not having
classes with any of your friends can also be hard on a kid starting middle
school for the first time. Stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to
know people is definitely a start.
If
you sit down in your first hour class and don’t recognize anyone, start up a
conversation with the kid next to you. Be friendly but not too friendly. You
don’t want them to think you’re clinging and stalkerish, because then they will
most certainly not try to be friends with you. Shy people tend to have a hard
time being the first one to start up a conversation. If this is you, just give
them a smile. Smiling is the first step in starting a conversation. Ask them
about their other classes or if they’ve heard anything about this teacher. Once
you get past the awkward “don’t know what to talk about” stage, begin to ask
them about their friends and family. Or what they like to do in their free time
or on the weekends. You may never know what you have in common with that person
till you get to know them.
The
transition from middle school to high school may be a little different. It’s
similar to middle school in a way that you move from class to class and you
have six or seven different teachers. Although with high school comes more freedom;
especially as you move up in grade. At most schools, the teachers let the
upperclassmen leave campus for lunch and trust you to make the right decisions
and be safe. With this new freedom, invite someone to go to lunch with you. It
may be a little awkward at first to ask someone to lunch if you don’t know them
very well, but this is an opportunity to get to know them. If you decide to
stay at school for lunch, ask someone if you can sit with them. Nine times out
of ten they’ll say yes. If they say no, then don’t fret about it and move on. Rude
people are not worth your time.
Stepping
out of your comfort zone is just one way to learn more effective social skills.
If you continuously do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, you
eventually become more familiar with the situation. Having these social skills
will make it easier for you to approach people and be more assertive, which is
something many people look for in a relationship or even when applying for a
job.
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