High school and college are filled with friends and peers. You’re constantly barraged by people; you have your friend group that you sit with at lunch, your teammates, and fellow club members. You have bandmates and your friends that you goof off with (sometimes) in class. You might also have study buddies and tutors. You also have your teachers and guidance counselors, principals, lunch aides, and general school faculty that you have to encounter every. Single. Day. For an introvert like me specifically, this is a living nightmare. My introverted-ness is paired with social exhaustion; basically, I get super tired when I’ve been around too many people, and I need to be by myself to recharge my mental batteries. It was kind of easy to do in high school, because after eight hours of people, I could just go home and relax for an hour and think about nothing.

In college, it’s a little bit different. You have more freedom. So you could have a break between classes and get a snack from the convenient store or the little grab-n-go place your school has. You have the freedom to choose whether or not you want to hang out with people or not. Or you could schedule your classes to be all back-to-back and have no time to hang out with friends except at night, when most people might have sports or jobs, or other plans. The point is, you have the freedom to schedule your social life around your school schedule, and most people in college expect you to hang out with them all the time, because you have the freedom to do it! But it’s okay to say, “No, guys, I’m going to go hang out by myself for a little bit, I’m kind of tired today.” You should never sacrifice your mental health for your social life.

Personally, I am less of a fun person whenever I’m super tired and socially exhausted. I know that most of my friends would prefer to do stuff with me whenever I’m energetic and happy to be around people. I know if I’ve had a rough day of socializing with a lot of people and had a pretty bad day, I can’t be around my friends because I’m more prone to snapping at them or saying something I will regret. It’s so much more beneficial to get some sleep or recharge by yourself instead of hanging out with your friends because you feel guilty if you don’t. If you feel guilty about NOT hanging out with your friends, you need to find some new ones, because good friends will understand that you’re tired and need some alone time. Mental health is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, no matter what the situation is.