What it’s like being an introvert at Clemson
An introvert who wants to socialize – isn’t that ironic?
I’ve never been the type of person to put myself out into the world without a shove in that direction, but I didn’t think too much about it until I came to Clemson.
I’m the youngest of three with two older sisters. I went to a boarding school called NCSSM for my last two years of high school. I thought that experience fully prepared me for college since I already lived on a campus, gave tours to people through the campus and lived with 700 other people my age.
But during my time there, people could always find me in my dorm room watching Netflix or playing games. The only things that got me out of my room? Sports or the few friends I had dragging me out.
I swear I’m not crazy
Coming to Clemson, I had the goal of becoming more social and making many new friends. I had a whole plan, with everything lined up to make that goal happen.
Sadly, that plan fell apart due to my inability to be more outgoing. I couldn’t bring myself to talk to random strangers and get to know them. As a result, the first few weeks of college were pretty dull and uneventful.
I would spend most of my days in my dorm room – not even socializing with the people in my hall – due to the fear of judgment I always feel around new people. I even listened to music on my way to class so I wouldn’t have to deal with talking to random people.
It wasn’t until clubs started to meet and organize that I started to make friends. I joined the swimming and sailing clubs because I thought they would force me to socialize. And it worked – I actually started to be more outgoing.
These groups of people ended up being the people I spend most of my time with outside of classes and on weekends. The clubs are what forced me to be social and I could not be happier with the results.
It might have been like pulling teeth to put myself out there, but joining clubs really did the trick. They brought me out of my shell and helped me find friends at Clemson.
If you, too, have trouble making friends, follow in my footsteps and try joining a new group. You never know what will happen.