What’s the first impression you want to give people?
I wish people’s first impression of me is that I’m awesome. They don’t ever get that at first though. It takes me warming up a little bit around people for them to figure that out. My new co-workers thought I was too quiet when I first started. Then I started feeling comfortable around them and after a few days, one of them said “you’re one of us now”. The people I spent two years suffering through grad school with…they thought I was a quiet, reserved, sort of stuck-up Catholic school teacher. Then I started opening up in class once I started adjusting to them and the class atmosphere and their opinion of me changed.
That’s just how it goes with me. My introverted-ness shines first, but as time goes on, that’s not the first thing people think about me anymore. However, some people will always think that about me because I never warmed up to them. Like the people in the running club I had joined. I went to their meet ups and ran with them, and they were always nice to me and included me. I just never really vibed with them. By the way, am I using that word correctly? I’m so out of touch with current lingo. I’m as cringey as my students always said I was when trying to use new words.
I guess the bottom line is, I think I’m an awesome person to know and either be friends with or work with every day. It just takes a little bit of time for people to realize that about me. And I’m ok with that. I don’t go out of my way to be extroverted from the beginning. I don’t try to be anything other than what I am. Shouldn’t we all?
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