Is it just shyness

I am 19 years old, I have always been very very shy for as long as I can remember, but I want to get over this. When I was in high school, I always made very good grades, and always turned in my work, but when it came to having to speak in front of the class, most of the time I took a 0 to avoid speaking in front of people. When the teacher would make me speak I would be sick for days or weeks before. I want to go to college, but I am terrified because I know that I will have to talk in front of people. I am so sick of being this way. How do I become more confident and be able to talk to people comfortably??

College is too important an experience for you to miss out on because of your fear. I can't tell you exactly how to be more confident, because I struggle with that daily, but you just have to have believe in what you say and do. My question to you is, why are you so afraid to speak in public? Is it the people looking at you, are you afraid that they might make fun of you, or what is it? You need to answer that question first and then you can begin to overcome this fear.

For me, it's always been that I'm afraid, I don't know what I'm talking about and that people will think I'm stupid because of what I say. Because of this, I'm a history major, where I can take classes where the discussion is mostly opinion based, and there is no right or wrong answer. As long as you can back up your opinion with something, it's right. And sometimes for me, it just takes a teacher telling me that my ideas in my papers are good and I should share, and my self-esteem is boosted and I'm not afraid.