As I boxed up my life last summer for the first time I was so excited to be heading off to college. I was going to make new friends, have new experiences, and make a difference in my campus community. Like any other freshman, I was anxious but excited as my family brought me closer to Ann Arbor. Everyone kept saying I was going to do well here and that I had the perfect personality to handle Michigan: I was academically inclined and outgoing, a go-getter if ever there was one. Everyone, myself included, assumed I’d do well here, and to a point, I have. But like every other person on this campus, I’ve learned a lot about myself along the way, one of those things being that maybe I’m not as extroverted as I thought.
So far, I’ve learned that for me, meeting people is super easy. I love talking to people so getting a conversation started isn’t the problem. The problem is keeping in touch with all of the people I meet. Instead of asking people to hang out, I assume they’re busy or I’m in the mood to just go have some me time so I don’t ask. Toward the middle of last semester I really started embracing my newfound introversion, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there came a point where I was missing out on all sorts of opportunities like career fairs, networking events, and keeping in touch with new friends.
I started to realize that instead of using my go-getter attitude to my advantage, I was letting the introverted side of me take hold. Sure, I got a sufficient amount of sleep and always finished my homework on time with minimal stress by doing so, but this led to me eating a lot of meals by myself and looking at all the people around the dining hall hanging out with their friends and having fun. It was sort of lonely, but there came a point where I was sick of doing things by myself so I dragged myself out of my room, hopped on the bus (because #NorthCampusProbs) and went out with a couple of friends even though I really didn’t want to. From there, I met other friends and kept going to hang out with them and started embracing my internal extrovert and it’s been so much better since. There are still days where I take “me time” because that’s essential, but now if someone asks if I want to hang out, I’m much more likely to say yes, even if at first I don’t want to. Because college is short, life is short, and why not have some fun, lose some sleep, and enjoy being a go-getter for a little while?
Photo courtesy China Personified.