College Kids

Yesterday I finished a book I've been in the process of reading for a while. (That's how books tend to go with me at college: when I have time, I start a few chapters, then I don't have time for a while, then finally I do have time and read the rest of it even if I don't quite remember the first part.) The book is called Quiet, and it's about introverts, of which I am one. This has gotten me thinking a bit about being who I am as an introvert – and being an introvert at college.

In the book, the author explains how in Western culture, the extroverted personality is the ideal. If that's the case, then college in that culture is the land of the extrovert. Think about it: what's the image of college portrayed in the media? Staying up late, blaring loud music, constantly checking phones, doing crazy events around campus, dancing, partying, blah, blah, blah. You want to be the person who's always on the go, has places to be and friends to hang out with. You don't want to be the person who stays in the dorm, reading a book on a weekend and going to bed by midnight. If that's the best thing you can come up with to do on a Friday night, you must be sad, strange, nerdy, or – heaven forbid – antisocial.

We seem to have this idea in our heads that if we want to be quiet, especially on a college campus, there must be something wrong with us. But as it turns out, one third to one half of us are introverts. We naturally like environments that aren't exploding with stimuli. We might be perfectly happy to sit in our dorm rooms with our headphones on and play solitaire on the floor for an hour or so before we go back to running about like the campus squirrels – and there might not be anything "wrong" that makes us that way. It's just a matter of being different.

So yes, I go to college, but I'm not exactly your stereotypical "college kid." It's fine that other people are. In fact, it's great. Go ahead – stay up late, dance to your loud music, do crazy events around campus – and enjoy it. Do. Be your extroverted self, because this world needs both introverts and extroverts. I'll join you sometimes. We can learn together and learn from each other. Just know that when I retreat to the quiet of my room, it's not because I'm antisocial. It's because I'm a different variety of college kid.