My Oh My! Who Have We Here?

        Hi, I'm Maddie Schmidt and I am artistic. Being artistic is a great attribute but it has its challenges when you are also an introvert. For example, when I am involved in a singing competition, it takes a lot of effort to be gregarious and put on a good performance. When I just feel like singing and then leaving,  I am forced to socialize and wait until the end of the show to hear the results.  In the video "The Power of Introverts" Susan Cain explains how she has had to force herself to be less of an introvert and more of an extrovert. In the video Cain states "But for years, I denied this intuition, so I became a Wall Street lawyer, of all things, instead of a writer that I had always longed to be--partly because I needed to prove to myself that I could be bold and assertive too." Jory Mackay, a journalist, cites "These are the people with the powerful ability to rapidly parse through the huge amount of available information and decide what is most important without taking the time to engage in slower, rational ways of thinking."  I too, have had many situations where I had to prove to myself that I could be social because that is what was expected of me.

        I have also struggled with people not knowing the difference between being shy and being introverted. For example, when someone tries to engage me in a conversation and then questions why I'm so quiet, they typically say "You're shy, aren't you?"  I just want to tell them "No, not really." In Cain's video she gave a perfect definition and example of the difference between the two.  "Shyness is about fear of social judgement. Introversion is more about, how do you respond stimulation, including social stimulation." Another example Cain cites to demonstrate the difficulty of being an introvert is that schools and workplaces are setup to support extroverts, and extroverted behavior is often rewarded. For example, in a classroom teachers support the group style learning and students are encouraged to speak up. Cain exclaims, "Even in a subject like math and creative writing, which you would think would depend on solo flights of thought, kids are now expected to act as committee members. And for the kids who prefer to go off by themselves or just to work alone, those kids are seen as outliers often or, worse, as problem cases." I have single handedly experienced this myself, mainly in elementary school, by being forced to learn one way but are in need of learning a different way. In both the article and the video, Cain and Mackay make a point to say that no matter if you are a introvert some communication is key in a school or workplace setting. Mackay writes, "Studies have shown that people who communicate in an expressive, animated fashion tend to be liked more than difficult-to read people." As I have gotten older, graduated from high school, and started college, it is a lot easier for me to have my own style and a sense of who I am and what my valuable qualities are, one of which is being an introvert.