The Introvert's Survival Guide to College

Entry 2: First Week of College

So after packing your books up and showing up on campus you are overwhelmed, tired, and most likely haven't found the time to eat food, I recommend either eating food or metaphorically injecting your stomach with the natural predator of butterflies, the bird (this might be especially fitting if your mascot is of the avian species).

Now, I'm an odd freshy, I decided to live off campus (I'll get more into that later), but there are still many similarities. I recommend making peace and setting boundaries with your roommate(s), perhaps give them a flyer explaining what introversion is. For example:

"Greetings stranger, I come from the land of ----- insert home land---- and I am of the species humani introvertis, a dyeing species that is preyed upon by the boisterous and energy consuming humani extrevortis. This does not mean that my species hates the extrevortis, but it does mean that we do not appreciate how little they seem to understand our different lifestyle. It is my hopes that we are both inrovertis and can band together in order to survive through this experience, but in the higher chance that you are an extrevortis, we have some things to discuss. First off, I need alone time to read, this may seem strange, but it is true. I also need warning if large crowds will be gathering in our space, I will respect your need to congregate and probably go somewhere else to read/play games/ or even *gasp* hang out with a friend.

On another matter, I need to know if you are a muggle? If so, you must be taught about the world of wizarding, only then can we understand one another - here is a pile of seven books that all humans must read........."

and so on. Great. Now you and your roommate(s) are either best buds, or at least, understanding of each others needs. If not, have a little patience, you're all going through a tough time, but in no way do your roommate(s) have any right to lock you out/ disrespect your things/ or be a general a--. You can change rooms and that is fine! You do what you need to do, studying and sleep are first priority if you are coming to college for the purpose of learning.

So you likely have an orientation that could be from a week or just a day, mine was four days long (not all day though) and it is truly the best time to get out there and meet people! Have your phone to get numbers, and have a smile and open body posture even though you are likely overstimulated. This is where I met the people I like the most so far, all two of them.

The first week of college is when you need to use your social juices. It's the best time to go fishing for friends. You don't need a lot of them, one or two is great! I can guarantee that you will want to have at least one familiar face to talk too. I went to a lot of club meetings for organizations that sounded interesting and that is a fantastic way to get involved and have friends (not to mention clubs probably meet once a week unless its a sport team (something I also recommend doing! Nordic Ski! WOOO!), heck why not make an introvert club? You could all agree to curl up in a blanket and read a book quietly for an hour or complain about noise and lack of privacy; complaining makes everyone feel better! (Ex: My Roommates are impertinent clay-brained louts)

I don't have much to say about classes beside: go to them! You are at college to learn, so go learn, its a no-brainer! (I do recommend bringing your brain to class anyways, you might want it). College classes are exactly like high school classes (Ap classes, that is) except they meet less and its up to you to do your homework...something you should have already been doing in highschool anyways. It isn't scary, grab a front row seat and enjoy the learning! Get excited about new things!

I'd love to give advice on parties as well, but I'm not into partying, I don't drink and I prefer small groups of people having intelligent, or at least in depth discussions, If you do want to try a party, never go by yourself and watch your drink. That's as much as I know.

See you soon!

~Boldpastel

P.S. Extroverts are awesome! This is not an attack on anyone, just a pile of sarcasm, advice, and the general feeling of an introvert.