A new program makes finding friends in the school cafeteria a piece of cake. “Sit With Us” helps students who have difficulty finding a place to sit find a welcoming group in the lunchroom. The app allows students to recognize themselves as “ambassadors,” thereby inviting others to join them. Ambassadors can then post “open lunch” events, which signal to anyone seeking company that they’re invited to join the ambassadors’ table.

Natalie Hampton, a 16-year-old from California, is the designer of Sit With Us; which was posted on September 9. She was inspired to create it after she ate alone her entire seventh grade year. The situation left Hampton feeling vulnerable and made her a target for bullying (欺负).

Hampton, now a junior, is attending a different school and is trying socially. Yet, the memory of sitting alone and being bullied still affects her, especially since she knows her experience isn’t an isolated one. Hampton said the reason why she felt an app like this was necessary, is because it prevents kids from being publicly rejected and being considered social outcasts by their classmates. “This way it’s in secret It’s through the phone. No one else has to know,” she explained, “And you know that you’re not going to be rejected once you get to the table.”

When students — especially the “cool kids” — stand up to builying, it has an important effect. During a 2015-2016 school year, over 50 New Jersey middle schools provided their most socially able students with social media tools and encouragement to deal with it, and saw a reduction in student conflict reports by 30 percent.

Hampton said that since she opened the app last week, she’s already getting positive responses from her classmates. “People are already posting open lunches at my school,” she told the program. “So I’m happy that things are already kicking off with a great start.”

My first day in high school will never be forgotten. When I got to the classroom in the morning, I saw that Mr Brown had already put our names on our tables. After walking a few steps, I saw my name on the table right in the middle of the classroom. Walking up to my table, my heart sang. “It would be great to sit there. I could see everything easily,” I thought to myself.

A while later, the other students entered one by one and took their own seats. And then Mr. Brown started talking. He showed us his classroom rules and tried to explain them. All of a sudden, a student called Tony started singing loudly. All the while he moved his body to the music. His deskmate Josh couldn’t understand why he was doing these things. Then he stood up and talked to Mr Brown, “I don’t want to sit with this strange guy. Can I swap seats with someone else in this room, please?”

Mr. Brown didn’t answer his question directly. He stopped what he was doing and turned on his computer. Then he showed us some pictures about autistic (自闭症的) kids. He explained that autistic kids have little self-control. They seem to do things that are beyond everyone else’s understanding. However, they can do many other great things, in the field of art or music for example. Then he told us that Tony was not good at maths, but loved songs. “He can sing thousands of songs. What’s more surprising is that he can remember all the words without any mistakes.” In the end, Mr. Brown added that although autistic kids were different, they should be loved.

Since that first day in high school, I became Mr. Brown’s admirer (崇拜者). I was pretty sure Mr. Brown would get all of us on the right track.

When I first entered college, I was afraid that I was not "up to it". I was afraid of being away from my family for the first time. Here I would have to make friends with strange people and perhaps also compete with them for grades in courses I would take. Were they smarter than I was? Could I keep up with them? Would they accept me?

I soon learned that my life was now up to me. I had to set a study program if I were to succeed in my courses, and change the time I spent in my study and socializing. I had to decide when to go to bed, what to eat, and with whom to be friendly. I had to answer these questions for myself.

At first, life was difficult. I made mistakes in how I used my time. I also made mistakes in how I chose my first friends in college. Shortly, however, I had my life under control. I managed to get myself to class on time, do my homework and hand it in, and pass my first exams with satisfying grades. In addition, I developed a circle of friends with whom I felt comfortable and could share my fears. I set up my own routine（常规）, one that really met my needs.

As a result, I began to look on myself from a different perspective(视角). I began to see myself as a person responsible for myself and responsible for my friends and family. It felt good to make decisions and see them turn out to be wise ones. I guess this is what people call "growing up".

What did life have in store for me? At that stage in my life, I was really uncertain where I would go and what I would do with the years ahead of me. But I knew I would be able to handle what was ahead because I had successfully overcome the major problem in my life: I had made the change from a person dependent on his family to a person who was responsible for himself.