"One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do..."

Nobody wants to be alone. The first question your mom asks after the first day of kindergarten is "Did you make any friends at school today?" Creating meaningful relationships is an integral part of the human experience and an important milestone for burgeoning youth.

Being alone isn't healthy. Studies have shown that too much social isolation can negatively impact your health - even if you enjoy your alone time.

Health hazards aside, being alone is inevitably a part of growing up.

First you leave the nest and the comfortable halo of your family. After a few semesters with dorm roommates, you grab some mates and find a house where you get your own bedroom (finally!).

But in all this adulthood you will find you have a lot more time to yourself. You don't spend eight hours of your day locked in a public school. We are freed from the forced social interactions that dictated our high school days. Your hobbies might be more independent than they were in the past. And these are just normal, everyday changes to your "alone time" quota.

As a 90 percent extrovert, this aspect of the real world absolutely terrifies me.

I do not cope well with "alone time."

In my previous apartment, my roommates were wonderful and pleasant to be around - when they weren't having some R and R in their rooms. Alone. Quietly.

For a loud obnoxious girl, from a loud obnoxious family, it felt like I was living in a library for nine months.

In my desperation to be around people I started doing some odd things - like bumming on my friends' couches constantly or going to local coffee shops at 2 a.m. to chitchat with the barista and the other third shift regulars.

Annoying your friends by constantly hanging around is not a good strategy for "being around people."

By circumstance or choice, you may often find yourself alone in the world.

Maybe you are in an unsatisfactory roommate situation and feel like a stranger in your own home. Perhaps you've moved to a new city for a job or transferred to a different university to pursue a new major. It could be that you've lost an important relationship that soaked up the empty spaces in your day - a family member, a friend, a significant other, etc.

These situations are not unusual, and while they may be uncomfortable, "alone" is a concept adults need to get used to.

Because it's OK to be alone.

There is nothing wrong with becoming more independent and self-reliant. These are traits I have always admired in others and seldom saw in myself.

I always felt that my dependence on "company" was a little embarrassing. Yes, it is wonderful to be friendly and enjoy humans, but why am I so afraid of solitude? What could I possibly fear in myself?

Over the past year, I took some time off from my social schedule. I dropped a lot of volunteering positions, extracurriculars and became more choosy about my social agenda. Taking a step back from my "life" was scary. I felt like I was disappointing others with my absence and I had a lot of dreaded alone time to think (or twiddle my thumbs).

In the quiet moments these last 12 months, I navigated through "loneliness." I reflect now. I started writing - personal entries, ridiculously long lists and now articles. I go to museums, movies and restaurants alone - and I enjoy my own company. Truthfully, I find myself annoying at times, but I also laugh at all my own jokes, so "Emily time" can be pretty awesome (in a narcissistic sense).

It took me a long time, but I think I'm finally learning how to be alone. Just don't give me the side eye when you see me at Fourth Coast at 2 a.m.