I’m a highly introverted person who is really good at tricking people into thinking that I’m highly extroverted. I’m talkative and hyper, I’ll throw myself out there to greet new people and be as nice to them as I possibly can. But here’s the honest truth of the matter—people exhaust me. Whenever I’m around people for too long, I feel drained. As an introvert it’s pretty terrifying to be out in public sometimes, because I end up in these situations where despite the façade I put on, I feel like I’m actually dying on the inside. Sometimes, I’m terrified even when I’m around my favorite people in the world.

Being an introvert doesn’t mean I hate people though, it just means that in order to feel comfortable, I need to be alone sometimes. One of the reasons why I love Montevallo, both as an institution and as a town, is because Montevallo is a place for introverts. Not only is Montevallo a place for introverts, but it also a place that doesn’t make introverts feel any less for simply being who they are.

Most would assume that Montevallo excels at this because of its small size, but honestly it’s a lot more than the size. It’s all about attitude. As Jordan Baker says in The Great Gatsby, “…I like large parties, they’re so intimate. At small parties, there isn’t any privacy,” and this can prove true at universities as well. At a larger university, it’s easy to be an introvert, you can find a multitude of places to be on your own, and no one would be the wiser. But at the same time, there is a pressure to not be introverted. At bigger universities there are huge parties, activities, and other events always happening on campus. If an introvert chooses to ignore most of these events, people are liable to say that they are wasting their time hiding out.

At smaller universities, it is harder to be alone because everything is so close and personal and everyone can tell who the introvert is. But smaller universities don’t pressure introverts into being someone they are not. It’s not about the physical attributes of a place, but rather the attitude of a place that makes is right for introverts or not. Montevallo is particularly good at this because both the town and the university encourage everyone to be unique and true to themselves, even if this truth is in spending most of your time alone.

Montevallo’s classes are small and intimate, but the atmosphere in classes is rarely an uncomfortable one. Introverts can thrive here because they aren’t situated in the crowd of people they don’t know, and you’re not forced into a situation where you feel like you are just in a forced system. The classroom atmosphere creates a place where you can get to know your classmates and learn on a level that isn’t highly pressurized. Some of my best moments at Montevallo have been because of small intimacy of a classroom, of the inside jokes throughout the semester and the ways I have gotten to know my classmates. You’d be amazed at what introverts can accomplish when there isn’t pressure to be extroverted. The professors know your names and your face—you’re never just another number in a crowd. Montevallo maintains the attitude that each student is unique, and in this way introverts have the ability to actually be known as more than just a blank face in a crowd

Montevallo also gives introverts the opportunities to make friends that they otherwise wouldn’t have at bigger universities. At bigger universities there are an overwhelming amount of people, most of who would only make friends with introverts if the introverts put themselves out there. For someone who feels drained by people, the prospect of finding an intimate group of friends in such a huge group of people is overwhelming.

At Montevallo, though, being an introvert and making friends in easy. Not only is there the intimacy of small classrooms, but also of a small community as well. An introvert in Montevallo can make friends with the people they pass in the hallways or the people they run into at Eclipse. There is no overwhelming pressure to look through the masses for friends, for with such intimate and positive surroundings, the friends come naturally. Montevallo also gives introverts the chance to make friends with all kinds of people. I’ve witnessed and been part of friends groups that hold both the most extroverted of people and the most introverted of people. There is no bias in Montevallo toward the people who’d rather stay in the room than go to a party and vice versa. Montevallo gives introverts the ability to be themselves and make friends with people unlike themselves without judgment.

It’s not just the university that does this but the town as well. Montevallo seems like a town made for introverts, where you can find yourself sitting in dusk on the porch at Eclipse, walking along the trails around the lake, or even people watching in the corner at Main Street Tavern. The attitude that the university maintains, that every student is unique, is an attitude that translates directly into the town. In Montevallo, you’re not accosted for being alone, nor or you judged as boring or lame for being alone. Montevallo allows you all of the alone time that you need, and fully embraces when you come back from that alone time. Without the pressure to be someone who you are not, introverts can thrive and make fond memories, and intimate friendships, and have opportunities to be alone but still love the people around you. I’m always going to thank Montevallo for that, because you are certainly the place that this introvert loves to be.