My sweet girl,

This year has been rough.

I have seen you brokenhearted and feeling defeated more times than I can count. And truth be told, those feelings will happen many more times in your life.

You do not know the countless hours I spend awake, worrying about the condition of your heart and how much it has experienced at such a young age.

Baby girl, you are so much like me, and that’s half the reason I worry so much. We are introverts—not shy, but introverts.

Being introverted in an extroverted world is tough, especially when you would give anything to be like the ones who float seamlessly through social groups. Other people don’t understand people like you and me. They see an introvert and decide that we are rude or weird because we can’t just talk sometimes. We cannot find the words quickly enough to follow the ebb and flow of small talk.

And, quite frankly, people drain us—especially extroverts. How can someone talk for hours about things that seem so little in this great, big, complex world?

The problem with this is one you have experienced already. People bond through talking. Everything in our human experience involves communication. It is why extroverts get noticed. They are much louder and in your face than we could ever dream to be. They want to be surrounded by people—people give them energy. And this is why they gravitate toward one another’s energy. This is how social groups at school and other places form—and people like us get left out, or sometimes ignored altogether.

Introverts are the thinkers of the world, watching and analyzing everything around them. We take solace in listening to the roaring of wind as it fights its way through the downpour of rain. We notice the subtle smells of vanilla and caramel against the overpowering coffee bean. We peacefully observe the way a speaker’s hands move when they talk and feel the nervous pattern of their breathing as they attempt to wow their audience. We read between the lines of a poem or what a friend is saying when we know they are experiencing heartache.

We may not fit in with the large group, but we are the best friends any person will have—if they are willing.

My dear girl, I see every day your desire to do everything this world has to offer and the want to please everyone while doing it. Everything you attempt, you put your all into it, and you usually do quite well. The most amazing thing about you is your uncanny ability to absorb anything and work meticulously until you have perfected your item of passion.

But those who really see you, see the sadness within.

You long to be recognized like the others. Friends and teachers alike have passed you up, year after year, because they think you already have been recognized, or they just get blinded by the outgoing personality in the group and look past your quiet demeanor.

I have seen it happen, year after year. But, my sweet girl, it will happen one day. I know this for a fact.

So, do not quit attempting to move mountains. Do not be afraid to take chances. Do not let the energy of this extroverted world cage you.

You were made to change this world.

Copy Editor: Yoli Ramazzina
Social Editor: Callie Rushton