An Introvert's Guide to Navigating College: Friendships
When you think about it, making friends is such a weird concept. We randomly find people we feel a connection to and decide to open up our entire lives to them. Over the years, I have noticed a pattern within my friendships and surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), many of my closest friends are extroverts.
I seek a lot of balance in my life. Whether it’s the balance between Netflix and homework or the balance between pizzas and salads I consume, I like feeling evened out. Therefore, my extroverted friends give me a social balance.
It was not difficult for me to become friends with the two girls I now consider family. We met in middle school and they quickly coaxed out my goofy, rambunctious side.
Throughout the years, many of my classmates would be surprised to hear my friends’ stories about something I did/said because it seemed so out of character. A lot of it had to do with how comfortable I felt around them, but also because their personalities helped me shine brighter.
In college, I found myself falling into the same pattern. The friends I’ve made are some of the sweetest, most genuine people I know and they’re also 100 percent extroverted. Needless to say, I’ve had some great conversations and made some great memories with them because our personalities complement one another.
I would also like to think that I help balance my extroverted friends in some way. My introverted personality gives them a safe place to vent and a person they can spend time with when they want to relax.
I do have a few friends that are introverted. They’re nice in the sense that we understand each other better than most people, but sometimes they’re harder to become friends with because we are so similar.
I’m so thankful for all of my friends because they’ve truly helped me grow as a person. Without them I’d probably be living alone in a cave with bats as my only companions.
