I am much older than you now, but I can very much relate to a lot of the things you wrote regarding your experience. I first realized that I stuttered at the age of seven. At the age of ten, I stopped reading out loud in class, even though I used to be the best reader in class. I stopped raising my hand to answer questions. I became shy. But I always still had 2-3 friends so I was never frustrated and still enjoyed school. I had a mild stutter and chose the path of hiding it by speaking less. Once I entered high school, though, even though I still stuttered, I realized that the people who aren’t shy have a lot more fun in life. So I started to consciously work on becoming less shy. It takes time and effort, but it’s definitely doable and a worthwhile endeavor. The very first step is to realize that you want to change. It didn’t happen overnight, but by the time I graduated from university, I wasn’t afraid to meet new people and was reasonably good at driving a conversation given the right group of people and situation. Given your experience stuttering, you actually now have some advantages. In some ways, you are probably more mature than your peers. You are probably more empathetic, compassionate, and a better listener. Use these skills to your advantage. If you look around you, you will probably find other people who are also shy. Make an effort to reach out to them. As you know, shy people want to have friends, too, but usually need someone to approach them first. Try and be that person. After you do it a few times, you will realize that it’s actually not that hard. Each time you do it, it will get easier. Finally, understand that you are young. Your whole life is still ahead of you. You are actually one of the fortunate ones who have recovered from a bout of stuttering. My daughter also had a very short period of time where she stuttered, but she is twenty-three years old now and doesn’t stutter at all. In fact, recently she traveled around the world on a cruise ship as an interpreter. Your future personality will be determined from here onwards by you. What’s happened in the past is the past and does not have to define your future. I appreciate your concern, but have faith that things will only get better and move forward with positivity. Start reaching out to new people around you and work on developing new social skills. The world is your oyster. You’ve got this!