TennisGirl

My brother and I are great friends. (I'm his sister and I'm 19 and he's 22) Here at college people seemed bewildered by the fact. I visit my brother (he lives a mile off campus) and talk with him for about an hour once or twice a week. Family comes first in my life. My friends asked me many questions like, "Why do you talk so long with your brother?" and comments of that nature. I understand only children being confused and that not everyone is on good terms with their siblings, but why do people find it strange? I'm 19 and my brother is 22, why do people think its weird to visit and call/text my bro? It's not like I call him constantly.

I love learning about diet, exercise, how the body processes food, what happens if you're inactive/active, etc. I live a healthy lifestyle. I want to help stop obesity.

I just don't know what career I should work towards. I wanted to become a nutritionist or physical trainer, but they don't earn much and they're not worth going to college for.

I am a freshman in college. I am almost done with my general education requirements, so time is running out soon.

I am a freshman who lives on campus. I've tried...

-walking straight up to people

-hanging out with people on my floor

-joining clubs

-starting small talk before/after class

-going to all events that I could (athletic events, art stuff, etc.)

Yet, I feel lonely. I've failed at orientation and I'm failing now. People have already formed their friend groups. It is extremely difficult. Do I talk to people? Yes. But it never goes beyond small talk. To make matters worse, we played a game where we had to write down a compliment about anyone in the room. Guess who didn't get a compliment? Me. I'm not letting it bring me down, but it still sucks.

I am struggling being myself. People don't like me being myself. I am goofy and nearly all the girls find me weird for that. They look at me funny when I try to crack a joke. Often there are too many girls with outgoing personalities in the room to even get a word in. I consider myself outgoing, but it is hard when they already have friends.

It pains me the most to see posts on facebook of people at college having the time of their lives. The only thing keeping me here is the schoolwork/education. Although that is at the center of what college is about, it is a LOT less enjoyable when you are lonely. How am I supposed to unwind? TV and music can only do so much...

I'm a freshman at college. I like history, but at the club fair the history booth was kinda lacking. They say they play games and watch movies. They said they *might* take tours of our town (but they haven't in the last few years and also our town is not that historical...) That's pretty much it. I don't feel like it is worth my time. At the same time, I am dying to meet new people! (so far, I only have 1 friend: my neighbor.).

Should I join anyway just to make friends? I did not find any other club that interested me except the workout club but the problems I have with it: 1) I am not fit. I would do it to workout, but the people at the booth were super fit. I don't want to lag behind and embarrass myself. 2) It's nearly impossible to befriend people while working out. People don't want their workout disturbed and 3) They have a crazy run race which I don't want to participate.

I am at a loss here...

I am about to enter college. My brother has been pressuring me to drink for a couple years now. I constantly hear people talk about how wasted they were the previous weekend. Is there any way that my social life will remain in tact if I abstain from alcohol? I'm simply not a fan of alcohol. I don't like going to parties and pretending to drink while everyone is drunk. Being the only sober person sucks. I have nothing against people drinking alcohol. I am just worried that people won't feel comfortable around me because I don't drink.

Any advice?

Sims games always seem to take a lot to play. I have a new ASUS laptop. I can play the Sims when my laptop is plugged in, but it sounds like the laptop is struggling and my laptop puts out a lot of heat. (Whenever it is plugged in, the power cord and the laptop get really hot). I worry about it. I haven't played the Sims 3 since. Should I quit? Is this normal? Is there anything I can do?

A website taught me "el perro" and "la perra". In all my classes in high school, I did not learn that animal words can also be feminine. In case I do have to speak/write about a dog that is not male, is it an insult or not? Like how b*tch in English means a dog that is female or an awful woman?

I am visiting next weekend with my family. We're there for 2 1/2 days. The first day we'll be at the Smithsonian museum of American History and if we have time, the zoo. We will also see the monuments at night. What can we do the next 1 1/2 days? Any suggestions? Don't tell me about any bike trails because although I love to bike, my mom doesn't, so that is out.

museum of American History? There are a lot of exhibit and I'm trying to plan my trip. How long does 1 exhibit take?

My family and I are visiting Washington D.C. next weekend. We are driving and already have the hotels set up. I'm in charge of what we're going to do. Day 1 we're going to visit the Smithsonian (American History Museum) and then tour the monuments at night and go out to dinner. We're there for another day and a half. Any suggestions as to what else to do?

Obviously, I can't make him do anything. HE has to want it. I am worried because he is overweight, he smokes, does 0 physical activity (all he does is eat a LOT, sleep, get drunk, and plays video games. He barely even walks!). He is at college and I will be at that same college this fall. He has a 2.0 and doesn't seem to care, so I don't think it's stress. He seems too laid back and carefree. (What does he have to stress about? My parents pay for everything!)

Anyway, is there anything I can do to inspire him or motivate him to workout or eat better? Would it help greatly if I set an example (I kinda already do, but I could do better). Would he then want to get better because he wouldn't want to be less athletic than his sister? I've tried inviting him to play tennis with me or go for a walk, like we used to do, but he says "no" every time. I've tried being serious and expressing how much I care about him and his health habits, but that didn't do a thing.

What can I do? He even refuses to go to the doctor, which I think would be a good "health scare" for him to get back into shape!

In high school, the teachers only required a paper or two with MLA format or a research paper with footnotes. What do college professors typically choose? Do they tell you? What should you do if the professor didn't say either style?

Once in a blue moon, my dad will compliment me on my personality, but now it's becoming more frequent with how college is only a few weeks away. He said I have a good personality for business. He worked in business for nearly 30 years. I don't quite know what that means... I am goofy, stubborn, friendly, and can talk to people easily (now that I had a job as a cashier, I was forced to learn how to strike up conversations with strangers). I don't think he's ever seen me work with a team on a project or anything... Unless I am missing some aspects of my personality, I don't know what he means! Anyone know what makes a businesswoman a good one?

(just an fyi: I planned on going into business, but I only mentioned it to him once. It's more of a last option since I stink at all the STEM majors.)

I've been fascinated with how the heart works since my dad had a heart attack a few years ago. I now take great care of my heart and I think I would enjoy helping others with their heart problems...

However, I have 2 problems.

1) I come from a lower-middle class family. My dad will have 3 kids in college in the fall of 2012. I would absolutely hate to mooch off of him! Instead of just going to school for 4 years, I'd have to go for 8. There's no way my family can afford that. I had a part-time job, but with the difficult classes, I don't know if I could juggle it. And if I could juggle it, I don't think a part-time job will help me pay it off by much.

2) I am not that good at biology or chemistry... or sciences in general. I am only good at little things (such as how the heart works). This is a big problem. I barely got by in AP Biology with a D in high school and in chemistry, I got a C. I don't know if my brain can handle it. The only subject I am good at is history, which is not useful. :(

Lastly, I considered just becoming a nutritionist, so at least I can help people with their health in some way... but my parents are very against it and I have to take tough classes like molecular biology for only getting a max of $40,000 a year. :(

I am at a loss! Am I forced to go down the same road as my brothers (major in business)? My mom is pushing for me to go into sustainable business, which seems to maybe have a promise for jobs... but I don't know if it will make me happy.

I considered nursing, but I have no enthusiasm towards it...

What should I do??

I have not met her in person nor have I accepted her friend request. She does not know that I am her suitemate (I found out because of her room number that she posted at least 20 times on the page!!), but she friend requested me simply because I am in the same college fb group. Anyway, she posts an awful lot on that page. She is on EVERY post. Not only that, but she has been on a mission since late May to try to find who are suitemates are. It kinda worries me how obsessive she is about finding out who I am. She is also trying to get people to go to the beach with her.... no one has met yet! We're all incoming freshmen, you are supposed to meet on move-in day. It just seems odd. I don't know if it's her or this new facebook society. I have decided not to accept her request not because I dislike her, but I am afraid that she will desperately ask me what room I am in and communicate with me too much before move-in day.

Do you think she is odd because of her constant postings, her quest to find her suitemates, and her weird questions that often contain personal info? Or is she just a little overly excited for college? I will of course give her a chance when I meet her in person, but are fb habits any warning signs? I ask because I used to have a clingy friend who would post constantly and that is what worries me!!

I really want to learn Spanish, but I don't want to pay too much money to learn it at college. So, I am trying to learn it on my own. Since I am too poor to study abroad (and probably couldn't meet the class requirements because you have to take a certain number of Spanish classes), I don't think I'll ever become fluent, at least for a while. I want Spanish for a life-time skill because I have a feeling I'll need it in the future. I already had to use broken spanish working as a cashier! Anyway, is minoring a good idea? I am majoring in sustainable business possibly. I don't want to tell employers that I am fluent in Spanish, at least not yet, but if tell them I minored in Spanish, would that look good?

I have two really good friends, Rebekah and Alissa. They've been my good friends from 9th grade. Well, it's the summer before college. We never had a single fight or anything, but for some reason they don't reach out to invite me to places. When they do, it is unrealistic (the recent one was to go see an old friend from 9th grade on the east coast. It would be an 8 hour drive and they had no plans and it never happened of course)

Anyway, I see them posting pictures and statues on facebook on seeing movies, going to restaurants and such. It makes me feel like crap. It's not just them. They now invite a girl named Ingrid who annoys the sh*t out of me, although I have never shown it nor mentioned it. Our personalities clash. She arrived mid-way through 12th grade. When I met the 3 of them at a grad party, I could barely get a word in because of Ingrid. They even started to make fun of everything I say. I feel like not only have I been replaced, but all of a sudden I am that "friend" who gets made fun of all the time.

I confided in my mom about this because I thought summer was supposed to be the time to hang out with your hs friends since after that, the friendships may not last. My mom said the cause may be because the 3 of them are going to the local community college where as I am going to a university 40 minutes away.

Anyway, I feel very lonely and now I am stuck in the house now that my part-time job ended. I can't contact anyone else from hs to hang out with because it would be awkward.

I never did anything to upset them. We used to hang out all the time. Is it Ingrid? Is it the fact that they'll still be together where as I won't be there this fall? Or is it me?

I am leaving for college in late August. I thought nothing of it until this week. Sometimes when I am at home and my parents are bickering, my mind screams, "I can't wait to get out of this house!" But, I started to hang out with my mom a bit more and do nice things for her realizing time is short. My dad was out of town. At work, my mind would occasionally drift to, "I just want my dad." or "I just want my mom." especially because it was a crappy work day.

Sounds very childish and immature, I know, but is that normal? Will I miss them A LOT more once I leave? I'm only 40 minutes away once I move. Is it bad that after I get treated like crap by customers, I want my parents? I sound like such a baby....

I have $3,000 in my savings account from working, money given as gifts (graduation, Christmas, birthday, etc.), and sometimes my generous dad deposits some money in there. I work as a cashier. I am very unhappy at my job. I have my first year of college starting on August 22nd and my dad told me personally that he preferred that I don't transfer to the store in my college town, but that I don't have a job at all and just concentrate on my studies for the first year. I am happy that he sacrifices so much for me and that he wants me to enjoy college. I am thankful because I know many people HAVE to have a job through college...

My problem is, I *want* to quit at the end of this month. I am tempted to tell my employer next week for 2 weeks notice. I want to quit not only because I dislike it, but I want to spend the last month with my family (we are planning a vacation for the 10th-14th of August). However, I feel bad about not working up to my college move-in day because I won't have as much money as I would by working that long. I don't want to rely on my parents constantly for money (they already pay my tuition!) But at the same time, I can't stand my job!

I've been constantly checking the job page on my college's website, but no luck. I will look hard for a job second semester....but if I can't get an on-campus job, I am pretty hopeless because I won't have a car for an off-campus job. I feel bad about not staying at my job for as long as possible!

What should I do? Should I quit by the end of July and enjoy the rest of my family time, go on the vacation, and just relax before school.... or should I tell my parents to plan a vacation of their own and work until a few days before I leave for college?

My college has a fb page. A girl named Ellie posts on their constantly. I only posted once to help someone with a question. I decided not to look at it or post on it too often because I want to meet people in real life, not online.

Anyway, when I posted that one time Ellie friended me. I let it sit there. Fast forward a few months. Everyone knows who their roommate is. The fb page blows up with people trying to find their suitemates and floormates. Turns out she might be my suitemate. She keeps asking, "Who is in room 504?" Which is my room. I don't know whether to accept her request and if she asks, tell her or just wait until we meet at orientation. My roommate is not on that fb page for some reason.

The hesitation is because she posts too often on that page. I could let her know to be nice and so that we could discuss the bathroom supplies, but... I don't want to chat with her a lot. I would rather meet her in person. I also want to remain a mystery I suppose. Everyone on that page reveals a bit too much about themselves. I don't want people to judge me online before they meet me.

Anyway, what should I do? Accept her requests and when she asks, tell her? Or simply just ignore it and wait until we move in and accept?