Last updated on October 1, 2020
Question:
Hello,
I am almost 15 and I have a couple of things I want to talk about.
The first is camp. I am going to be going to a camp for the first time. I am going with my youth group. There are two reasons that I have never gone to a camp before: first is money and second is my sister (older than me) went to a camp when she was about my age and got molested by an 18-year-old. I am dealing with some issues with being nervous about things like that, so what should I do to calm myself? Also about the camp is that they do not allow any “electronic entertainment devices” but every night that I do not fall asleep watching a show or movie I will use my MP3 player (true MP3 player as in it just plays music) and listen to music and that helps me to fall asleep I have a lot of trouble falling asleep without my music, so what should do about that? Also, I talk and sometimes snore in my sleep, so what should I do about that? I do not want to bother anyone.
Next, I would like to ask about socialization. My family has been going to a new church for about nine months and I love the church, I love the sermons, I love going to the youth group, but my problem is that everyone at the youth group knows each other and are pretty much all friends. I feel like an outsider. I love the activities there, I just do not know anyone. They are nice, but they just seem content with their current set up of friends.
Answer:
Just because something happened to one member of your it doesn’t mean similar bad experiences will happen to you. You are aware that a group of people associated with a church does not imply all are living a true Christian life. Have fun, but don’t be naive about potential dangers.
Your need to be distracted to fall asleep is just a habit built up over the years. If you had lived 100 years ago, you would not have this sort of requirement. Changing the habit, however, might be difficult, but it would be worth the investment of time. Pick days when it doesn’t matter when you get up the next morning and trying going to sleep without any electronics. The first several times will feel impossible, but you will eventually fall asleep. If you practice between now and camp, you may conquer it enough that you can get some sleep in during camp.
A lot of people snore, so I would not be concerned about it.
Making new friends in a new place is difficult. You can’t make up for the past, but the experiences you have with these people will form the bases of new friendships. Put a little extra effort into being friendly with other people. One trick I have done a few times is to treat the other people as if they are the new people instead of me. Turning things on its head sometimes opens people up. See Making Friends.