There aren't too many other disabilities that force it's sufferers to become good listeners. Look at the famous people up on the banner at the top of the screen. Imagine every single one of them at your age sitting alone in a quiet room trying to muster the courage to go outside and interact with a world that doesn't have the patience to deal with the way they communicate. Imagine the 5,065 readers of this subreddit having gone through, or currently going through the same thing. We have all been there, we all know, in the most painfully intimate way, what you are going through. Because one thing we as a society of stutters can unequivocally declare, is that we are the most empathetic lot on the planet. Let me offer you a small piece of advice. At least something to consider. People love a good listener. People LOVE empathic friends and acquaintances. Be a good and kind person, and realize that 75% of the people you meet in life have something in their life that is as hard or harder than what you deal with. There are people out there who need good friends and there are people out there who need or want your love. There is a man or woman(don't know your gender or orientation) out there who thinks the fact that you stutter is such a huge colossal nothingburger in comparison to the joy and positivity that you bring to their life. All they care about, is you. They will learn what your stutter is about and that it is just part of the package. Story time: 23 years ago was my junior year of high school. My friends are I were big into Ska/Punk. We were the coolest dorks in school when we were together. We got along with everyone for the most part and when walked the halls together with our Doc Martins and flight jackets, man, we felt invincible. But we were a figurative hot pot of damaged people. My friend Aaron was bipolar (undiagnosed at the time)... he had walked in on his mom in bed with someone that wasn't his dad when he was in middle school. He was prone to outbursts My friend Mark had recently lost his brother in a motorcycle accident. His father was the coroner on duty when the body was brought in and the whole ordeal had really messed his family up. He had weight problems. My friend Josh and I both had alcoholic dads. Josh was ADHD and I of course had a stutter. My friend Ryan suffered from depression and addiction after losing his mom at an early age to cancer. His dad wasn't in the picture so he was raised by his grandparents. Jamie had bad eczema and was allergic to everything. He was small and had a bad temper. John had domineering parents and and inferiority complex brought on by it. So... Junior year of high school, we all made a pact to ask a cheerleader or Pompom girl to homecoming. We were friendly with the group of them but the "way things were" was for the athletes to ask them to dances, not us. We all had our problems, me with my stutter was just the one I was focused on. I sat in my bedroom next to the phone for 90 minutes. I had picked up and hung up the phone about a thousand times it seemed. I was nervous enough just asking a girl to a dance... knowing I would probably stutter when I asked her was just the monster truck icing on the cake. I had worked out what words I was going to say. Hard sounds were easier for me to roll with than soft sounds so instead "Hi, Courtney" I knew I wanted to say "Courtney, hi!". "Th" was hard for me, but the "I" was harder, so I would say "This is Andy" instead of "It's Andy" I could stretch out the Th a little if I needed to and it wouldn't be too weird. I got through the introduction and adrenaline kicked in. It's a lifesaver I think. I was able to ask her to the dance with minimal embarrassment (mainly just the normal teenage amount) and she said yes. Of the group, about half of us worked up the guts to ask. Everyone who asked, got a yes. TLDR: I guess the point of all this, is that, like any disability. You have the choice of letting it define you or not. What doesn't kill you, absolutely make you stronger. Putting yourself out there in whatever way you can, will never be something you look back on and think "God, I shouldn't have done that". I hope it helps...