I am an introvert, by and far. I live for my alone time. I thrive when I'm by myself because I can focus on myself without worrying or getting distracted by anyone. I am shy and quiet-spoken. My friends, however, are loud, rambunctious, and always want to be on the go.

On a particularly good night, I wake up to about 50, if not more, text messages. On a bad night, it's probably only about 25 messages. At 11 pm, I have scheduled my phone to go on do not disturb so I can have some peace and quiet. When I wake up though I'm guaranteed a good laugh.

I'm exhausted by the time I get done with my classes for the day, but I know my friends are all wanting to meet up to get food, do homework, or drive around with a stop at 7/11 for behavioral. I can usually muster up enough energy to hangout and do my homework with them. In order to stay connected, but get some much needed alone time, I sit at the desk in my room with my door open. I can be alone but also participate in the conversations they have if I want too.

If you see me out with my friends you probably would assume that I am loud, obnoxious, and always hyper. Being in the company of my friends is one of my favorite things in the world. There are few other places I enjoy more than being surrounded by my best friends. If I'm with my closest friends, I can feed off their good vibes. If I couldn't convince myself that being with my friends is what I want, then I would be cranky much more frequently.

I've learned to make due with the alone time I'm given. I've also learned how to make my own "alone" time when I'm with my friends. If I'm doing homework, I put headphones in and blast my music. I focus strictly on my work and don't goof off with them. I've become accustomed to sitting and observing how everyone interacts with each other. This has also helped me pick up on behavioral clues so I'm very aware of mood changes in my friends.

Being the introverted friend within an extroverted friend group is hard. There are a lot of days when I want nothing more than to stay in bed all day, watching Netflix or reading a book. 9/10 times I wish my friends would leave my room so I could be by myself and relax. More often than not, I'm wishing my friends would quiet down and relax, just a little bit. But my friends push me to new limits and force me to embrace a side of me that I rarely often show. I've become more comfortable with public speaking since I have to force myself to speak up if I want to be heard in my friend group. My friends look at me to be the voice of reason when things are headed to disaster. If my friends are stressed, crying, or upset I have the words they need to hear to calm them down.

So yes, I get fed up with my friends pretty quickly, but it's not because they annoy me. I simply need some down time to relax and probably take a nap. It definitely takes a little more convincing for me to get ready and go to a party, but I'll be there and I'll have a blast.

It's definitely not easy being the quiet one in the group, but I wouldn't change my role in my friend group for anything else. I'll continue to be the quiet one because that way, I never miss any of the stupid, embarrassing things my friends say or do.