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theres nothing wrong with being shy. Dont see it as such a bad thing.

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i agree with that, or at least doest have to be seen as shy - maybe ur more comfortable with silence, dnt feel u always have to talk to ppl....if anythin, that takes a lot of confidence and u must b pretty sure of urself.
u cant show all aspects of personality in 1 class, its ur mates who matter and the only ones who need to see it.
if ur not happy, then just fake the 'confidece' - pretend, force it and before u know it ppl will see u that way and ull naturally live up to it.
just do what u want for u and not for wat others may think

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"YOU! A tv presenter? Vanessa may be big but YOOOUUUU ARE SUMINK ELSE! "

First of all you need to realize that most of those people are gone (high school has lots of them but once you're in college/university there is a smaller amount of them).  People respect you for yourself.  If you say something stupid, just laugh it off, that's what most other people do as well.  It's good that you've made some friends.  You could also try "Overcoming Shyness" (topic in Teen Dating...)

For your self-esteem, do things that you're good at, hang around good/fun people that accept you for who you are and won't make fun of you in any serious way.  And start thinking positively if you're not doing so.  Experience really helps, just talk to anyone around you and you'll see that people aren't the way you think they are (ie they won't make fun of you, and if they do, then just ignore it or have a laugh).

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Leave well enough alone, annihilate the telephone
Be what only you can see: a curious and odd belief
Meant to walk the crooked mile;
Never blink, never smile