Throughout different posts in this blog I have talked here and there about how shy I used to be and really did not like interacting with people. In college during my undergrad years I worked in a microbiology lab. There were only a handful of people who had access to the lab and most of the time I was by myself. The perfect setting for someone who wanted to stay away from people. After college as I entered the post-college work world, I had no choice but to interact with people and I would probably cringe today if I saw my past self awkwardly interacting with people. I was happiest when I would interact with people through email or not at all. I would be so annoyed when people wanted to talk on the phone. “Why can’t they just write it in an email?” I used to think. Nowadays–call it maturity, old age, or practice–I very much prefer the just talking on the phone or scheduling a video conference. It’s just easier to get things and much more efficient.

My introvert self still very much prefers small groups and quiet settings, but it has been quite some time since I felt too shy to want to do something as simple as talking on the phone.