[Celyn]

You're not pathetic at all! I understand how negative experiences will make you want to avoid any places where you might run into people from school. But the key word there is 'might'. Because equally, you might not!

Your college visit sounds very interesting, especially since you get to stay the night in a dorm! Understandably, you may worry more about who you might share a room with, especially if you worry about people from school being there. But again, they might not be. And if they are, how would you deal with that? How would you like to deal with that? You could read a book with headphones, but as you have noticed, that may come across as rude. What if you tried joining in with them, or at least not avoiding them? Unless you are at a risk of being bullied, then you may find that not avoiding them may not be so bad. It's very tempting with anxiety to avoid certain situations, and while that may help in the short term, in the long term it may only increase your anxiety and avoidance behaviour (as you have noticed with avoiding stores and going somewhere else).

Anxious thoughts can spoil our mood, especially if we are looking forward to something. But the trick is to challenge those thoughts and make them less negative, and more realistic instead.

Best of luck with the college visit and enjoy yourself too!