Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Oct/Nov 2018 Aspire Mag Full Issue | Page 62

You’re Not Broken Because You’re
AN INTROVERT
BY JENN GRANNEMAN
G
rowing up, I had always felt
different. Like something was not
quite right with me. My teachers said,
“She’s so quiet!” My parents prodded,
“Why don’t you talk more?” My friends,
surprised and a little hurt, asked, “You
don’t want to hang out again today?”
In so many little ways, I was the weird
one.
As an adult, I couldn’t shake the feeling of
being “different.” I worked as a journalist
for a few years, then went back to school
to become a teacher. My graduate
program was full of outgoing would-be
teachers who always had something to
say. They sat in little groups on breaks,
bursting with energetic chatter, even after
we’d just spent hours doing collaborative
learning or having a group discussion.
I, on the other hand, bolted for the door
as quickly as possible — my head was
spinning from all the noise and activity,
and my energy level was at zero.
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