“But Veronica, you just started going to college here how could anything have changed?” Hey, this isn’t my first rodeo. I went to a community college in tiny, little, baby Great Bend, Kansas and I graduated with my Associates Degree in art. No, I didn’t live on campus. Yes, the only college events I went to were those hosted by Campus Christian Fellowship and maybe the occasional art gallery showing I had to attend for my classes. However, I can confidently say that from high school to community college, and from there to where I am now at ASU, I have made huge leaps and bounds changing who I am as a person.
Before we begin the spirit journey, I should let you know that I am very introverted. I enjoy being around people and doing really fun things like cliff jumping, going out to eat and shopping. However, that only stays fun for a good hour. Then I’ve had enough and want to go crawl into a blanket fort and not come out for remainder of the week. This happens because being around people for too long makes me really tired, I’m not lazy. Ok, maybe I’m a little lazy but not in the social sense.
In high school I did not know I was introverted; I thought I was shy and needed to “come out of my shell” as the school system so delicately put it. So, naturally, I had no idea that when I didn’t want to go somewhere I could just say so and not be dragged along with the energy-sucking vampires. I also didn’t know that needing to know ever detail of the activity I was about to participate in was not “annoying,” it was just part of my personality.
Before starting community college, the college counselor came by and gave my whole family the Myer’s Briggs Personality Test. That is when I found out that I was an INFJ. The counselor gave me this green piece of paper that explained everything about my personality and why I was like that, and it was amazing. For the longest time I thought that maybe once I went to college, I would grow out of all the “awkward” traits I had, like hating to talk on the telephone and liking people but getting tired of them quickly. That’s when I started recognizing that it was ok if I didn’t want to do everything the “normal teenager” and now the “normal college student” did.
I try not to stay out past 9 p.m. because I know that after a full day of college classes that now have at least 200 people in them, I need to give time to myself to recharge. I am very selfish about my energy, because isn’t it better to invest in one or two close friendships instead of stretching myself across 20 acquaintances? When I find myself a part of a new social group, I know that I learn more about everyone by just sitting, listening and watching, rather than trying to talk to everyone in the room.
What I want to stress is that it’s ok. You don’t want to go to that party? Fine, don’t go. You want to go out and meet people and stay up until 3 a.m.? Also fine. Figure out what is good for you and who you are. College is a lot more fun when you go at a pace that is healthy and comfortable for you. And to all my introverts, it’s perfectly fine to enjoy the quiet in a world that doesn’t stop talking.