Assignment 19: plastics (Tyler Gorman)

I think the advice that's most stuck with me that I've received in my life is (pardon the language) to "bulls**t confidence until it's real." It's really changed the way I go about interacting with people.
Middle school kind of sucked for me. Well, that's not entirely true. It REALLY sucked. Everywhere I turned someone was there waiting to target me, to say what I had to say was stupid, to isolate me for no good reason other than the fact that I was me. My grades suffered as a result, so not only was I going to school to be singled out by my peers, but I would then come home to be berated by my family for my grades. I didn't have anywhere to go, anyone to turn to. Now, granted, part (not all, though) of the reason I felt this way was likely because most people feel this way in middle school, but I couldn't help but notice it happened with me quite a bit more than others and it still completely sucked.
Then high school happened. I remember showing up the first day terrified to talk to anyone; high school was supposed to be my fresh start in society, and I didn't want to accidentally say something that would ruin it right from the start. But then I made a friend, someone who is still very close to me today. When I told them about my predicament they told me that the best way to build confidence is to "fake it till you make it," so to speak; to act confident around others, and then as time went on it would no longer be an act. After two and a half years of following that advice as well as I can, I still feel the effects that that piece of advice had on me.