Introverts are just misunderstood extroverts.
For the longest time, I have been an introvert.
When I was young, I was brought up at parent’s days where the teacher would ask my parents “Does this boy speak at all?”. I think my parents would remain flabbergasted every time, I was quite the normal boy at home.
I wouldn’t call myself a quiet child, I was kind of a menace, in a fun kid kind of way.
Growing up I stayed in the same school all boy school for all my primary and secondary education. Got accustomed to the people there and truly felt at home. I started to nurture my own character and I talk regularly to friends which I met there.
The horror of breaking my bubble came on school leaving day. Being very shy of cute girls and suddenly being thrown into a school full of them, made me look like ‘that strange guy’ even more than ever before.
Don’t rush to conclusions, I had my group of friends at higher/college (or as we call it, Sixth Form); some of whom I couldn’t thank enough for being by my side at such a time. But naturally, I would be awkward with the rest. Was always the small group of friends type of guy, like all introverts, I guess.
This continued all the way to University, unfortunately, a place where in my first year I basically didn’t click with anyone. Only in my repeater year (yes, it was that bad), I had some good friends which I still greet with a smile everytime we meet at work.
Dropping out of university and joining the workforce was a night to day change. Colleagues really made me feel at home. I felt like myself, surprisingly, I felt accepted.
At one point an ex-uni-classmate who happened to be working with me in the lab told me, “I never thought you were this fun to be around. Shame that I didn’t get to know you better before”
As many times before, I was happy about the compliment, but god knows how much a friend would have made a difference in my first year at university. Oh well, what can you do about it?
Actually I got an idea; introverts are people who find comfort in true friends usually in a intimate setting of a small group of people. They won’t bulge in, so give them space to express themselves and they’ll show you a completely different facade.
If you see a soft-spoken soul staying in the corner, you should:
- Ask them their name! Of course, tell them yours. Break that ice.
- Make them feel at home; usually simpling involving them in a conversation would do.
- Crack a joke, because laughter is the key to any good vibe,
- Listen to what they have to say
Make an introvert feel special, it may mean the world to them.
Are you an introvert yourself or do you have any friends who are proclaimed introverts?
Write us your story, in the comments below.
