We've all heard the question before: Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Are you someone who enjoys being the center of attention at all times or are you some sort of shy hermit who never speaks to anyone?

Every time I am asked this question, my response is always the same: Neither. I'm an ambivert.

More often than not, this answer is met with confusion or straight up denial. I've been told that ambiverts don't exist and that it's not a "real" personality type. I usually respond with something about how it's just as real as the concepts of introversion and extroversion since they're ultimately all just terms that people made up to try and explain why people are the way they are.

To think that all of the unique personalities of the billions of people that exist in the world can be classified into one of two categories without fail is a little absurd to me. While many people do fall neatly within the definition of an introvert or extrovert, even more, don't.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an ambivert as "a person having characteristics of both extrovert and introvert ." It's kind of like being the "divergent" of the personality types world. And it's pretty common that no one I talk to ever seems to know anything about it.

By definition, an introvert is someone who is drained by social situations and recharges by spending time alone. Contrastingly, extroverts draw their energy from other people and the external environment. Ambiverts are somewhere in between.

We like being talkative and being the life of the party when the time is right, but we also enjoy some quality alone time. I can derive energy from others just as easily as I can recharge by being alone with my thoughts.

But being an ambivert does have its downsides. For me, it came when I switched from one environment to another. At school, I was quiet, focussed, and I kept to my schoolwork. Outside of class, I was completely different.

I'd tell jokes and regale my friends with all sorts of jokes and stories. When classmates encountered me outside of class, they'd often ignore me or talk over me since they didn't expect that the quiet girl from school to want to join in on the conversation.

Another downside is making the shift between the shy and outgoing sides. Sometimes you can turn your charmingness and extraversion on and off like a switch, but other times it's harder to do that.

But if there's one thing us ambiverts want you to know, it's that we exist, and we're more common than you think. Maybe you're even an ambivert yourself. Don't let society put your personality in a box, and keep on being yourself.