I know this totally sounds cliché, but a lot of people haven’t absorbed the fact that “judging a book by its cover” is the worst thing you can do in life. As you walk in the school hallway, you notice the shy girl that everyone calls the “antisocial girl” and then have no interest whatsoever in getting to know her better or even smile or greet her. Why?

Because people classify the individuals around them based on what they think, subjective thoughts, and not what they know about her. All they know is that she’s quiet, inexpressive, and blushes a lot. Is that even a problem? Is being shy a problem nowadays?

I think it’s just a personality trait that might simply fade away with time, but why not give her a chance? Any person can be the best person you’ve met in your life, you just have to dig into their personality to see who they truly are. I remember when, I met a girl back in middle school, I’ll call her ‘Rayne’. I remember she was very awkward, had difficulties maintaining eye contact and barely smiled at school or even talked with anyone. I thought, why is she this way? So I gathered the courage to just approach her and converse with her.

At first, she was hard to deal with because she literally didn’t talk about anything, and she gave short responses to my questions. She was unbelievable, I was getting irritated too, but I wanted to try something new in life. I didn’t only want to hang around my friends, considering we were about to graduate from middle school to go to high school.

I brought up all the conversation topics I could think of, even if they were stupid or idiotic, but she didn’t seem to mind. Rayne was a very nice, sweet and friendly person. I invited her to my house, we hung out and went to other places outside of school and she was VERY shy there too.

A year passed, we chatted through Facebook and we made video calls through Skype and watched movies together. It was great, because she was a good listener and I started telling her my inner secrets. She was also a good advisor and a great friend; she never betrayed me or failed in being a good friend. Now, we’re in senior year, and we’re closer and better friends than ever.

I REALLY am grateful for having her in my life – she literally made me a better person and made me feel hopeful again. This is just a shout out to everyone who reads this, people can be more awesome than you think and they can even change your life. I strongly advise you to NEVER EVER miss an opportunity to meet someone and get to know them better. Who knows what’s waiting on the other side?