Socially anxious girl just wants to learn
By Jessica Berget, Opinions Editor
Let me get one thing straight, I am a fun and cool person to talk to—when I’m not in class. My class time is precious to me, (I paid $500 to be here) so when I am sitting at my desk the only thing I want to do is look at my phone, listen to the lecture, and learn.
Some of my biggest pet peeves are people who talk during lectures. It’s rude to the people who have a hard time focusing and just want to hear what the professor is saying. Did you really pay this much for a class just to talk the entire time? My disdain for people who do this led me to avoid socializing with fellow classmates altogether. I have had more than one occasion where I’m trying to take notes and the person next to me—that I’ve talked to a couple times—just wants to make jokes about the professor or have full-on conversations during a lecture. Just because I’ve talked to you before or after class a couple of times is not an invitation to talk to me during class and certainly does not allow you to distract me and interrupt my learning.
But maybe I’m just bitter.
For those with social anxiety or anyone who considers themselves anti-social, talking to people in class is an absolute nightmare. When I’m forced to interact with classmates as part of a group activity, there’s nothing I want to do more than crawl into the fetal position and disappear. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to anyone in class ever, I just hate the forced interaction and the invitation to socialize with me when I just want to sit in the corner and take notes. When you have social anxiety, any interaction with people can take a lot of mental energy out of you, energy needed to focus in class.
Of course, there are students who want to meet and socialize with their classmates—which is perfectly fine—but when it gets to the point of excessive talking in class or making jokes when the professor is talking, that’s when I have to roll my eyes so far back I can see my brain. Don’t be that person.
I know I sound like “blah blah I’m not here to make friends” but that is not the case (well, maybe to a certain extent). College is the most chaotic and stressful time for any young adult so of course I want to make friends. Just not the type of friends who talk during class lectures.
