To be honest, if you were to ask me to classify myself as an introvert or extrovert, I suppose I would say introvert. Most think I'm a bit quiet, timid and reserved. But I never really did like the label at all because it's not really indicative of how I function with social anxiety. And to be honest, some of the things extroverts might even be too afraid to do I can do with little issue.

Within the field of academia, as an introverted extrovert, I can prepare a presentation for school which can yield an audience of about 30-100 people and not get nervous. It's something I have control over. I feed off the adrenaline of having an audience. It's exciting to me. Also, test anxiety is virtually non-existent to me until It becomes very obvious to me that the test won't go well

As a musician, it's a very similar experience to class presentations. I can prepare a song and sense little to no performance anxiety. I've played in front of friends, family and strangers. I get a little nervous beforehand, but that's about it.

I also enjoy a lot of loud extroverted activities. I love parties, restaurants and loud places in general. I'd much prefer to be out on a Friday night than inside doing homework. My introversion is only really apparent when interacting with people because of how quiet I am. The only way I'll be open with someone is if they're extroverted themselves and can be open with me. I HATE hanging out with groups of people. I like a lot of my casual social interactions to be one on one. I never feel a need to fill silence; as a matter of fact, I'll take silence over awkward small talk all day every day.

If anything, I'll take a long deep personal conversation over light banter any day. I'll speak with strangers, but I can only tolerate a few minutes of small talk before getting uncomfortable (cue social anxiety). When I do go out, most of my time is spent to myself, as my friends have found others to talk to as they realize that I'm not in the mood to engage socially. I still like being out, I just normally don't feel like engaging with groups of people I'm unfamiliar with.

Not every introvert you meet just wants to just stay in the house. Most of us want to experience the excitement of life just the way extroverts do. But I've become unappreciative of being told how quiet and timid I am by others just because I don't feel the need to talk consistently within a group setting or even one on one with someone. If there are things I want to say, I will say them, but sometimes becoming an observer of a conversation is more entertaining to me than becoming the start of the conversation, and that's OK.

Being talkative, loud and very personal is very indicative of American society, so anyone who doesn't fit the mold is immediately dubbed an introvert (which I must say can have a negative connotation to it). So give those who are quieter or those with social anxiety space to explore the world and who they are socially without urging them into social situations they might not be comfortable with or bringing attention to their introversion, which by the way can be very anxiety-inducing.