Throughout my life, I have never once been considered "quiet." I was the talkative one in class who always annoyed the teacher, I got kicked out of a Girl Scout meeting because I wouldn't stop talking (and my mom was the leader), and for most of my childhood, I didn't really know what an "indoor" voice was. Since then, I have toned it down a little bit, but I am still one of the poster children for the term "outgoing."

For me, there are a lot of things that come with the territory of being "outgoing." For one, outgoing people want to make as many friends as possible, and thrive off of the energy--and attention-- of others. This would explain why I had to move seats more than a million times in elementary school.

Outgoing people are the people that you would least expect to be insecure. Because I am outgoing, I inadvertently portray myself as a confident person. Ironically enough, in the same situations that I probably seem the most confident (i.e. social settings), I feel most insecure about my "outgoingness."

One of my worst fears is that the people I am talking to are too nice to tell me that I am talking too much (or even worse, talking too much about myself). I am still learning where the line is drawn between talkative and annoying, and it's one of the most stressful things I continue to have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

I feel as though I lack the ability to recognize when I am not giving another person a chance to speak, and because of that, I get paranoid and then believe that I am, in fact, not giving anyone else a chance to speak. When I am having a conversation, the last thing I want to do is make it harder for someone else to contribute, or seem as though what I have to say is more important than anyone else's comments.

Just as being outgoing is one of my virtues, it is also one of my vices. I enjoy knowing as many people as possible, and spending time with these people, but the process of getting to know people scares the crap out of me. I'm not scared because I have to talk to people I don't know; my fear is actually quite the opposite -- I'm afraid I'll talk too much.

When I meet new people, I rely on my humor to make new friends, but I'm never sure if it ever comes across as annoying or as me trying too hard to be liked by those around me. I'm constantly aware of the fact that I'm loud and talkative, and since I do feed off of other people's energy, it makes it hard to distinguish when I've crossed the line.

A lot of the insecurities I have from being outgoing stem from the fact that I am not sure how my actions in social situations are portrayed to people around me. Since I am so caught up in the joys and energy of spending time with other people, I feel as though I could just as easily get carried away.

I have been much more aware of my insecurities since I started college. In college (especially freshman year), you are meeting the people that will be your support system for the next four years of your life, and the last thing I want to do is annoy the people I have no way of not seeing for the next four years of my life. Talk about pressure.

That said, in any social situation that I have been in that requires making friends, I have indeed made friends, proving that my paranoia isn't 100 percent accurate 100 percent of the time. I have people in my life who care about me, laugh at my jokes, and find my quirks (mostly) charming. I have people in my life who ask me to hang out, give me advice, don't make me feel pressured or "fake." I have friends, which for every reason should prove that I shouldn't be insecure about my "outgoingness," and yet I still am.

While I maybe have to suffer from these insecurities for a little while longer, I hope that I can get to the point in my life where I am no longer aware of people's possible opinions about me (and I don't care if some people just happen to not like me) and I just focus on the loving and caring, supportive system I already have around me. And, if I just happen to make some friends during the process, that's just a bonus.