Dear Nancy,

    My name is Nick and I hope you can help me. I used to be very happy at school. I had a group of friends, and I always did well in class and at sports. I don't want to be boast(自夸), but I was very popular. Everyone wanted to be my friend.

Then a new boy called Alan came to our school. First, he got a higher score than me on a test. Then he joined the school soccer team and scored two goals. He is a good soccer player! The other students started to think he was better than me.

Some of my best friends became his friends. If I suggest things for us to do, they ask Alan what he thinks. It's getting worse every day! Yesterday I gave the wrong answer to a question in class, and Alan gave the correct one. Now everybody thinks that Alan knows more than I do.

    What can I do to get my friends back?

Nick

Dear Nick,

    Your letter shows us all how difficult it is to adjust to a changed situation. You are used to being the most important person in you group of friends, and suddenly this has changed.

    You're obviously a very smart boy, and you are used to being better than most people at lots of things. You are very lucky, but you can't be the best in the world at everything. Learning how to deal with this will make your life a lot happier.

    This is my advice. You should not try to compete with Alan, you should continue to do your best in everything, but if Alan is better than you at some things, then you should congratulate him and be happy for him. When your friends see that you can adjust to the changed situation, they will respect you and still be your friends.

Good luck!

Nancy