Being introverted in college is hard. For me, at least. It's not because I don't like people or don't have friends in college. For the record, I like to have close relationships with small groups of people, rather than have a gazillion friends. If anything, I just tend be caught in between the social and thinking categories of introverts, thus I think too much in my own head, and can spend a lot of time observing others, rather than being normally social.
For introverts, whether you're a social introvert, a thinking introvert, an anxious introvert or a restrained introvert, college (and life) can be hard. We're meeting new people, doing new things, perhaps close to home, or maybe across the country, or the whole world. College and life is scary for us.
Being introverted in a very social and animated world is hard. But there are ways to control one's introversion to help one survive and thrive in our society. Below are the likely scenarios a typical college introvert will face, and methods one can efficiently (and quickly) use to get through these scary, undesired situations for one's own sanity.
1. Grocery Stores
An awful place to be for most introverts (unless you're the social introvert and can handle small talk). You just want to buy your groceries, whether healthy ones or the quick and efficient microwavable foods, and get the hell out without having to talk to anyone. But sometimes you run into people you might know, or the store workers might ask you if you need help (ugh, no! go away!), and when you go to check out, the clerk asks you random and boring questions about your day or your life. Ugh. Anyway, grocery store runs are just awful experiences.
Quick Fix: Self-Checkout. It's quick, efficient, and you don't have to talk to anyone (unless you need help).
2. Phone Calls
Phone calls can also be awful. Like, what do you do when you need to call your bank, or your pharmacy, and you end up stuttering like an idiot, and pretend to get it all together by saying "ya know" or "yea, that thing" when they help you out. Sometimes it takes minutes to gain the courage to even dial, let alone talk. Phone calls just suck. Especially with the awkward pauses and with your family. Like do I talk about dogs now, or my essay? What does my family want to know? I don't know. I had a call once with my cousin and it was sufficiently awkward... "Hey T, how are you?" - "I'm good...just working hard." "Oh, that's great..." - "Yea...Uhm....yea...say hi to so-and-so". "Yeah, will do, work hard." - "Yea okay." Is that not the most awkward convo ever? I hate phone calls (unless with my parents). Phone calls make me die inside.
Quick Fix: Plan out your phone call - like an essay almost. You need a thing - bring it up quickly, give the necessary info, say "thanks" and hang up. (This also applies to emails to professors, and meetings with professors or school officials/administrators).
3. No Friends?
Making friends in college is or can be hard. Some colleges are very clique-y and it can be hard to find one's group. That being said, while introverts like being alone or are shy, that doesn't mean we don't like having some close friends. Nonetheless, in a new town or college not knowing many people can be rather hard on the introvert.
Quick Fix: Join some clubs based on your interests (sports, arts, music, etc). Talk with some people in your clubs or even your classes. Clubs are great - even for the normal introvert. You will make friends, and it will be okay.
4. Class
Personally, I really like my classes so far. They challenge me to think critically about our society and history. The only thing that I dislike about classes (besides lots of homework) is the first day of class - more specifically, where to sit. It's hard to choose sometimes. Do we sit by our friends, if any happen to be in the same class, or do we try and branch out and sit up front to pay more attention to the teacher and information? Or do we sit in the back?
Quick Fix: Back or on the side is safest for introverts. You won't have to worry about people staring at your messy, didn't-have-time bun or sweats from the back, and you can people watch. People watching is interesting.
5. Dinner
Dinner can be traumatizing as an introvert. Too many choices, too many people walking around, being noisy. I'm a social introvert and dinner time just makes me die a little inside.
Quick Fix: Go early or right before closing. Usually there are less people at the beginning of dinner and at the very end. Of course, this all depends on when your cafeteria opens and closes for dinner. If you go right at opening you usually have your pick of the litter of marvelous food - though sometimes college food is just not even worth eating. However, be aware that if you go right at closing, sometimes food options will be all gone, and you could be left with the much less desired food options.
College is and has been a whirlwind of homework, sleep, eating, working-out, and repeating that process. Throughout college, many extroverts thrive in the social world, while many introverts find challenges within the ordinary occurrences and events of every day life. Of course there's many other situations that us introverts do not like, but I've found the above to be the most common - especially during freshman year. Nonetheless, as much as introverts may not like being social and being around thousands of others, "we are here, we are uncomfortable, and we want to go home."
