The high school I went to had 60 people in my graduating class. I went to high school in Hungary at an international school. It was smaller than most here in the U.S. so we were a pretty close-knit group - everyone knew everyone. It was a given you would see the same people on a day-to-day basis because you’d likely have classes with everyone or see everyone at some point in the day. Weekends were comprised of spending time with your closest friends because we were all relatively social with one another at school.
It was until college that this routine completely changed for me. Yes, I still make plans for the weekends, but more of my week time is spent with friends and in student organizations, so I’m out and around people for longer periods of time. Moreover, coming to a new city I found myself surrounded by thousands of people I didn’t know, let alone a university with thousands of students milling about on a daily basis.
I found myself drained by even going to classes and student organizations during the week, that by the time the weekend came around I preferred being on my own. However, I began noticing my reactions it would depend on the situation and my current mood. If I was feeling too tired or drained, I'd stay home but if not then I get all too eager to go out and be with my friends.
The way I think about extraversion and introversion is in terms of needing to ‘recharge’.
My freshman roommates explained it to me like this and it made sense. Although we all lie on a spectrum, thus rendering no one 100% one or the other, there are people who identify more with one over the other. Those who identify as extraverts have a preference to ‘recharge’ around people and are generally more out-going and seek out group interactions, whereas those who identify as introverts have a preference to ‘recharge’ on their own and generally shy away from group interactions.
I didn’t feel like I identified with either more over the other. When I think about it, there are times when I look forward to being on my own and I am excited when plans get canceled. Yet, there are times when all I want to do is go out and being on my own just doesn’t seem to ‘recharge’ me. The main challenge I face is not being able to stick to plans and sometimes feeling like I’m forcing myself to be around people.
Being at college has taught me to navigate this challenge as I’ve been able to figure out a good balance for myself. I now generally alternate weekends where I’ll go out and then stay in the next. This helps me stay on track with my work, work ahead and then look forward to spending time out with people again.