My Introversion Magnified

During this past spring quarter, I took the Myers-Briggs Personality Test for a coding assignment in my CS class. The results would either relay you an ‘E’ for Extrovert, an ‘I’ for Introvert, or an ‘X’ for smack dab halfway in between. I was an X. I felt comfortable with my test result and deemed it accurate because I have found through experience that I can very much thrive in social situations with close friends, but I also yield a great amount of energy from doing personal activities by myself.

The thing about social situations for me, especially those with less familiar faces, like the people I am on this study abroad program with, is that I am not one of those people who speaks my mind on every waking topic and butts into every conversation to have my voice heard. I am that person who chips in when there’s a noticable break in the conversation, or you might find me off talking to the person next to me in a safer, more private conversational environment.

I am the type of person to get to know one-on-one and not in group social settings. There is no possible way that people can get to know the real me from hours of group setting interaction everyday — and that’s what has made this first week of study abroad tricky for me.

The non-stop group group activities this past week have been new and exciting, but by the time Friday rolled around, I was utterly exhuasted by the constant social interaction. It got to the point where I was being snappy with my roommate and unresponsive to things people were saying to me.

After just a week here in Amsterdam, I realized how crucial my daily alone time is to me, and I had gotten none of that from Tuesday to Friday.

So, I woke up on Saturday, vetoed plans to grab lunch at a temptingly cute cafe with the group, and instead took my time to collect myself and my thoughts by doing laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning, then ventured out for a solo trip to the Rijksmuseum to check out “The Well-Stocked Kitchen” for a class assignment. After visiting the museum, I threw on my headphones and just wandered through the busy but cute flower-ridden streets around town, poked my head into a few shops with small knick knacks, bought a few postcards to send home, and for the first time since arriving in Amsterdam, I found a subtle level of peace with myself being in this new, unfamiliar city with new, unfamiliar people.

As for reaching a level of peace in my relationships with the people on this program, I think it’s in my best interest to take the time to seek out people in smaller sizes to spend time with. I obviously don’t know everyone well quite yet, but I can definitely tell there are some interesting people on this trip that I want to get to know more.

Already, I am so thankful for signing myself up for this experience because I am learning new things about myself after just a handful of days in the program. Who knows the type of person I will be coming out of the program as in August.