On a Monday morning in my intro to Psychology class, we watched a video about Susan Cain who spoke about introverts and their power. It's a TED Talk that you can watch here or read her e-book here. I'll briefly summarize it but it is well worth the read and her speech is very interesting.

Cain grew up an introvert without even thinking about it. She and her family valued books and they were constantly reading when they were together. They appreciated having the presence of each other and enjoyed the endless possibilities of the world that they could explore in their minds. They preferred reading other than loud music, TV or conversation.

It wasn't until she attended summer camp that Cain realized how secluded she appeared to others. With their "Rowdie" chant (which she mentions is spelled wrong) and their constant need for spirit revival, the camp counselors made her put away her books and be "rowdie" with the rest of the campers.

Cain missed her books and felt that she had abandoned them. She yearned for their comfort and warmth. After that summer, she admits that she has always felt a certain guilt for being so introverted.

I think a lot of us can relate to her experience. From a young age we're taught to read, but not that much. We're taught to be independent, but not that much. We're even pushed together into round tables of five or six kids to be more social.

So what about the introverts?

What about the kids that hate group projects? What about the ones who love to read and would rather do that than climb on the jungle gym? Why are we forcing them into group thinking when they obviously want to think independently?

They aren't going to be affected into adulthood if we don't force them to socialize. It may actually harm them more if we try. They may hate the way they are, struggle with self-esteem issues and may see themselves as different or excluded from others.

Why do they not have the same opportunities?

Teachers love extroverts and so do a lot of other people. Introverts are overlooked and often times ignored because of their tendency to stick to themselves. They're overlooked for student politics within their school and in leadership roles in our nation's government. Extroverts are seen as executives and leaders when sometimes, introverts may be the better options.

Introverts may listen to other's thoughts and may make decisions based on outside ideas. Extroverts may be so excited and driven that they may cloud others out and might not take other's opinions into account.

Neither should be excluded from being able to take up leadership positions because both have very good traits that are perfect for certain jobs, but introverts do need to have more recognition and consideration.

Some of our nation's important figures from the past were introverts. Rosa Parks, Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt are just to name a few from Cain's talk. They may not have necessarily chosen their roles, but they played them well and made some big changes in our society.

Introverts find their energy being alone whereas extroverts find their energy interacting with others. 50-74% of society is made up of extroverts and the other 16-50% is made up of introverts, which is still a large chunk. We shouldn't shame introverts for how they are, just like we wouldn't shame extroverts.

We also need to stop ignoring them and overlooking them when it comes to important decisions like filling leadership roles. Everyone deserves to be considered and included in society, no matter their social preferences.