As we get through the first wave of midterms I am reminded of what this felt like a year ago, when Northwestern had only been a part of my life for about a month.

My freshman year, I lived in a single on the first floor of 1835 Hinman. In other words, I was in the most anti-social room on an extremely quiet floor – though I lived in of one of the most social dorms. Making the transition even more difficult was the fact that I am also an introvert.

If you’re a new student and you’re anything like me, you may feel like at this point in the quarter you haven’t made enough friends and that maybe you’re at the wrong school. (This is made especially difficult to deal with when you look at all the friends your semester school friends have). This is a feeling I know that I acutely experienced, but one that I now can hardly remember. I figured out that I have the ability to change the way I interact with others, even if it doesn’t come naturally.

A lot of times, those on the outgoing side of the spectrum think that quieter people are disinterested or have nothing to say. From my own experience, I’d say that most of the time this isn’t a true. However, if indifference is conveyed by your body language, you can’t blame other people for concluding that you don’t care.

A mentor of mine once explained that there are fewer introverts than extroverts in the world, and often times the former group thinks that there is something wrong with themselves. Being an introvert isn’t any more wrong than being a brunette. Like hair color, introversion and extroversion are mere differences. But also like hair color, personality is something that can be changed. Though the change cannot replace the original characteristic, you can certainly achieve a different appearance.

The main difference between extroverts and introverts is that, while being surrounded by people energizes extroverts, introverts are energized by time alone. Usually this means that it’s natural for extroverts to be sociable and introverts to be more uncomfortable in social situations, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be true.

I’m not any kind of counselor or certified advice-giver, but based on recurring experiences in my life, I’ve noticed that it’s really easy to hide behind the “I’m shy” mentality, but it’s really hard when you miss out because of it. The fact is, you are missing out because you’ve made a decision – either consciously or unconsciously – to stick to what is most comfortable. I’ve done it, and I’ve come to realize that life is more fully experienced when you let other people in.

You can work on social skills just like you can work on athletic skills. Practice makes perfect … or at least better. School is pretty much in full swing at this point, so it might seem like you missed the window for finding your group of friends, but even as a sophomore I’ve found that there are so many people who are open to meeting someone new. It’s a two way street, as they say. Don’t sit around waiting for people to notice you.

There are tons a great people and it’s totally worth the effort to get to know them.

Emily Alvarado is a Medill sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected].