I'm Mary. When I was new in junior high school, I knew no one. Most students talked only to people they knew, so I felt lonely. I had to come home crying. Mother asked me what the worst time was and I said it was at lunch time.
She said, "You are not the only lonely person. There are others that are alone. Tomorrow I want you to look around the lunchroom to see if other people are eating by themselves. I want you to go to one of them and ask if you can join him or her.
The next day, I did look around and asked a young girl who was already sitting alone. The young girl was very happy. I shared my story with the girl and the next day we met for lunch and found some other people who were alone. This began a very interesting approach(接近) to life.
The lesson that I learned from that experience have stayed with me all my life. I have few problems approaching new people. I learned that I am not alone. Most people are just like you and me. We all want to be noticed, and to have someone be interested in listening to us.