Too nervous to talk to this guy!!

Tomorrow I have the class that is a bit full with him. So I don't know if I'll even be able to talk to him as he leaves after class quickly (I think for football practice).

I'm a 20yo female and I've only had one boyfriend, it was a long distance relationship and I'd known him for years beforehand so there wasn't really a getting to know each other, or dating phase. Basically: I have little experience dating.
I am also a bit socially awkward. I've gotten better at hiding it but I blush easily and can become flustered quickly.
My ex and I broke up last June. And it's only now that I've developed romantic feelings for anyone. I'm ready to date, I really want a proper relationship.
Before I get into this, let me say...This will sound somewhat childish. I'm a very detail-oriented person and a lot of stuff goes through my head. These are basically just my...observations and thoughts.

I don't know exactly when I noticed him. We are in the same course, and so we were in two classes together last term, and are also in two classes together this term and we must have lab at the same time (different teachers though) as I see him then.
At some point last term I noticed him. I assume it began with us making eye contact frequently. At some point I noticed he tended to sit in the same row as me during one of our classes, always two seats away. Sometimes a female friend of his would sit with him, but even when she started sitting a couple rows ahead with some other friends he didn't join her. He seemed to always sit in my row unless there wasn't room near me. I told myself that it could easily be coincidence though. He never spoke to me.
Now this term, that class has more people so he has been sitting behind me. However, in our other class he started sitting next to me. There have only been 3 classes so far but day 1 a friend sat with me, day 2 she was absent and he sat with me, and today (3) there was actually no chair beside me so he pulled one up and sat by me. By this point I'm thinking it can't be all in my head. Yet he still hasn't spoken to me. Today, because we were next to each other we ended up in a group sharing our assignments with other people. As I was reading mine I could see him looking at me and nodding and such. I found it increasingly difficult to form intelligent sentences and was possibly probably blushing. However I survived. With rattled nerves. Because clearly I can't handle myself around males I'm attracted to. I knew tonight I'd see him before lab, and thought "tonight I'll talk to him! I'll just ask him what he thinks of the new class in this series! It'll be fine!" I positioned myself near my class on a bench. He came and sat about 10 feet away against the wall (his class was a bit down the hall). I'm thinking, is now the time? Should I say something? But then I realized how quiet the hallway was. Though the other people in the hall were a good 50+ feet away it was so quiet I was sure they'd hear anything I said. Oh wait now he's looking like he's trying to take a nap! I surely can't talk to him now! Several minutes go by. Aw man, now this other weird 30yo dude who I see stare at me has sat by me. Ugh. Opportunity lost.
So that's where I'm at right now. Please don't be mean, just looking for some friendly advice...

Since both of you seem to be a bit shy, just try to build a conversation about something commonplace, like, you might request his help for something he might be good at... You know, I had the same problem 3 years ago, my ex just walked up to me one day and she requested my help in a mathematical problem, the teacher being absent... though, you have to take care that you don't end up looking like a nerd/geek. Good luck...

Honestly, they will nearly always be something that seemingly gets in the way of you talking. Unless it means you rudely butting in where its obviously not appropriate to do so just ignore it. Many people don't notice the interactions of others or it means little to them they have their own life to focus on. So just ignore what others might think or say, it doesn't really matter if they do which they are not likely to. Try not to take it too seriously, it will just tense up the situation more. Just go in for s casual chat on anything that comes up at the given time. The only way you'll have a relationship is if you talk to this guy. He will probably no doubt welcome you talking to him as he'll probably want the same. Otherwise, you'll just end up looking at each other till the end of the course then go your separate ways a real shame I would have thought as it sounds like this guy likes you.

Ah, uni can be quite a tough place to talk to people you've never talked to before in your class.

I was a similar situation during 6th Form - I shared Chemistry and Maths lessons with a girl and I never knew what to say to her or when I could talk to her alone - as the rest of the class were guys she always sat alone, and the rest of us always sat in the same seats for no particular reason, so it'd have looked weird if I came in and pulled up a chair next to her.

For quite a while I was like 'okay, today's the day I'm going to talk to her, I just hope the right time comes along' and there were a few times where I just chickened out and so she only vaguely knew that I existed.


Eventually I talked to her as she was on her way home (I wasn't following her, it turns out that we both had to walk down the hill by our school to get to the bus stop) and we just had a normal conversation, and things got a bit easier for me and I became more and more confident.

After a few conversations I asked if she'd like to meet up at a library nearby to do some studying. We did so once or twice, and since it was April, I asked her if she wanted to go to the park and study on the grass and by some miracle she said yes. And all the while we got to know eachother more and more and things escalated pretty quickly over the space of a few months. I'm usually not very good at getting to know someone, but she knew all the right questions to ask and it all got pretty easy.

I s'pose what you can take from that is that you should just talk to him. Easier said than done, but if you can do it, then when he sits near you he might initiate things, you'll have more conversations and you'll get chances to get to know him a bit. It's difficult to have a conversation where you know everyone else is listening, so I'd suggest talking to him when there's another conversation going on elsewhere, or between classes, unless he has football practice or whatever after every class.

Since both of you seem to be a bit shy, just try to build a conversation about something commonplace, like, you might request his help for something he might be good at... You know, I had the same problem 3 years ago, my ex just walked up to me one day and she requested my help in a mathematical problem, the teacher being absent... though, you have to take care that you don't end up looking like a nerd/geek. Good luck...

erm excuse me? I'm proudly a massive geek and can talk to people no problem

Anyway, two shy people who cant talk to each other? Well thats setting itself up as a romance for the ages.

Seeing as your too whatever to do it youself - get someone who's not afraid of interacting with other human beings to do it for you?