Metanote: The last time I saw a topic like this come up on proggit, almost all of the messages were people saying they would be happy to go have beers with the

Metanote: The last time I saw a topic like this come up on proggit, almost all of the messages were people saying they would be happy to go have beers with the poster and chat. I like the HN community but this is a pretty stark difference with the "advice" he's being given here. Interesting. So in the spirit of a slightly nicer community, if you were in San Diego I'd be happy to get some beers with you and talk to you about this. I'm 32 now but I was a 21 year old introvert who had just dropped out of school and had low self-esteem once and now would consider myself successful in making a living programming. The thing that got me going was just getting to work. Start making something. Making progress on a project is important and will certainly help your self-esteem. I always learn by picking a project and figuring out the technology/language I need as I go. It helps, believe me. Don't give up, just keep moving. I've never personally been bothered by loneliness but there's got to be clubs and groups around, even if they're like Public Speaking clubs or whatever. You don't have to date or even make best friends in school, just meet people and let things happen.