Most people get introversion and shyness confused. When I tell someone I'm an introvert, their reaction is always, "No you're not, you always talk to everyone!" Well, understand this: Introverts aren't shy and don't want to talk to people. Shy people fear social encounters, while introverts embrace all social encounters. However, introverts prefer being alone compared to being at social events. They'd rather sit in their room for most of the night than go out. If they do go out, they're back earlier than everyone else. A lot of people in my life have a hard time understanding me because of this. They always want me to go out, have fun and meet new people. It's made some people close to me judge me on multiple occasions.

Have you ever had someone tell you you're not normal for your age? Well, I have multiple times, and I'm still not sure how to respond to that. Truthfully? I'm not normal for my age. My knowledge is that of a 30-year-old lawyer. When I ask people to hang out, it usually means I want them to come over, watch sports and talk about conspiracy theories. I'll randomly go weeks without talking, not because I'm mad or sad—I just don't want human interaction at all. Throughout high school, there were days where I would come into my house, tell everyone hi, then go into my room the rest of the night. My family never understood it then, some don't even understand it now, but that's just who I am as a person. I can recall at least two cases in which people have asked me if I was suicidal. My instant reaction was to bust out laughing. Those were the only other two times that I had to explain my introversion to someone.

I think I'm starting to crack out of the introversion shell though. When I transferred here to Duquesne in my first semester, I don't think I said 1,000 words outside of my room. Thankfully enough, I met some of the greatest people to bring me out of that shell, so now I go days without introversion. After so many days, though, I crawl back into my shell and have a day or two to myself. I know there are a lot of introverts out there. Sometimes they refuse to label themselves as such though. It's OK to be introverted. It's not a bad thing. Although our mouths don't, the introverted mind says so many things. Our mouths stay shut, but our minds are always open. We listen more than anything. What we hear will be processed in our heads and saved until it is no longer needed. Stephen Hawking once said, "Quiet people have the loudest minds," and he couldn't be more right about that.

So don't call us weird, just refer to us as unique. Keep us around. We hear everything and don't say much—those are the people you will need in the long run.