One characteristic that I really don\’t like about myself is my constant social anxiety. Not surprisingly, the Internet is one of the very few places that I almost have none. In some situations, it\’s significant enough that I don\’t do the best that I can at one task.

It\’s just not shyness. I do want to voice my opinion. I want to say something. But this almost irrational fear overcomes me when I have to say something. Not just public speaking, mind you. In high school, the worst grades I got was…for class participation. There was an English class where the teacher graded heavily on participation in class discussion. Almost 15% of the grade. Of course, I was silent the entire semester, probably only spoke aloud 2 or 3 times when he forced me to answer a question. My participation grade was…very low. But I wrote the best essays in class and for some reason, that made up for everything. I got an A in that class.

Most people don\’t understand my \”social anxiety\”. I can see them get frustrated – \”JUST SAY SOMETHING.\” But that just isn\’t good enough.