B)
Do you like being alone?
Most of the time. Though, I probably wouldn’t have given you the same answer before quarantine.
I used to be an extremely social person and was probably way too talkative for my friends to handle. Being around other people, whether it was friends or family, gave me tremendous amounts of energy and just made me really happy. Doing things like hanging out with my friends every time I got the chance, going to parties, going to every class event--just anything social--sounded so appealing. When I took the MBTI quiz in freshman year, I wasn’t surprised to find out I was an extrovert. Most of the things I enjoyed doing would give that away pretty quickly to anyone.
Towards the end of freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year, I changed. What prompted that change? I’ve thought about this so many times and I’m still not sure. But it came pretty naturally; I stopped being so talkative, I grew indifferent about going to school dances, I didn’t care for class events anymore. I still went to school dances since most of my friends did, it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy social settings. I was teetering on the edge of being an extrovert versus an introvert. I remember I took the MBTI quiz around this time and the results were 51% extrovert and 49% introvert, closer to a complete balance than what I had before.
Then with the COVID outbreak, quarantine hit. After the first month or two, I started to feel lonely. I wanted to see my friends and classmates, and I just really missed interacting with people. As my time in isolation went on and on, I grew used to it. Being alone for so long helped me learn things about myself that I wouldn’t have easily figured out if I didn’t have the time to be with myself. I started to enjoy all the alone-time and didn’t want to meet with people (I also kind of couldn’t). I rarely left the house. Instead, I practically lived on Discord. During this time, I took a couple MBTI quizzes again (if you couldn’t tell, I enjoy taking them). The results all showed I was an introvert. At that point, it also wasn’t surprising; I had evolved into this quiet, human-interaction-avoiding couch potato.
Ever since I came out of quarantine, I’ve noticed the traits I adopted over quarantine have influenced me more than I thought they would. I don’t like hanging out with people for too long. Instead of giving me energy, interacting with people now drains it. After having a busy day, I’d rather stay home and play Valorant than go over to someone’s house to watch a scary movie. And over this past weekend, I did exactly that. Being crowded by a bunch of sweaty Uni students jumping to loud music doesn’t seem like a great use of my Saturday evening this week, but I’m only going because it is my last homecoming dance before I graduate. And maybe also because of peer pressure. And maybe I’ll end up liking it. We’ll see.
I genuinely enjoy moments I have with my friends at school or when we spend time with each other outside of school. I like being around people to an extent, but I also need my own down-time so I’m not mentally and physically draining myself from having too many social interactions. Though having too much alone time all of a sudden can make me feel lonely, as it did in the first part of quarantine. So I guess the point is, yes, I do enjoy being alone, despite having been the complete opposite just a couple years ago. But it’s not like I don’t also enjoy being around other people. I just need the right balance that works for me.
How did you predict the prompt for November 3rd? Are you some kind of psychic?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, back to the serious stuff. I really liked your essay. In a lot of ways, I relate to it because I feel like I also go between extrovert and introvert. When I took the personality quiz for the junior questionnaire, I got 51% introvert and 49% extrovert. As quarantine went on, the gap between those percentages widened. However, I think that your essay is relatable to everyone, even if they are an extrovert because everyone has in some way changed during quarantine. This makes your essay really interesting to read, no matter who you are. One thing that I really loved about your essay was the flow and the informal tone. For example, I really loved the sentences " And maybe also because of peer pressure. And maybe I’ll end up liking it. We’ll see. " because I think it is informal and feels like you're the one saying it. This small detail gives some personality to your essay. Nice job!
I've taken that MBTI test multiple times and gotten the same result every time. I've always been more introverted, but I can definitely enjoy hanging out with a group of friends. But if it's any bigger than that, I start to hate it. For the same reason as you, I'd rather not go to homecoming and rather play VALORANT. I think it's interesting that quarantine turned you more introverted though. I'd think that an extrovert being able to hang out with people for a year would make you long to hang out with them much more, but I guess things aren't that simple. In fact, your reasoning for not hanging out with people nearly as much after quarantine (you just got used to being alone) sounds just like my reason for being more of an introvert, except make it last my entire life instead of just a year of quarantine. All in all, I think your essay is complex and covers many ideas that help make it an interesting read.
ReplyDeletewe're like the exact opposite. I got energy from people before quarantine (like you) but after quarantine I'm the same. In most instances, I wouldn't play Valorant if I had a social alternative. Idk that's really interesting. I hope you enjoyed homecoming!
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