Changing a Personality

Changing one's personality is difficult for a 19 year old girl who has a shy, passive personality in Korea. That’s what I was like when I was a freshman in university. When I was curious about something in a class, I never asked my professor a question. Even when my professor called on me, I barely answered quietly. “Um…… yes.” Surprisingly, I had a lot of friends who were able to spend a lot of time with me wonderfully. I was dependent on them in classes. After 2 years, my friends disappeared one by one suddenly because some boys had to go to the military and some girls made decisions to go abroad to study. After their leaving, I was completely alone in school. “I should have been going abroad to study. I really miss them.” I told another friend regretfully. “That’s ok. Don’t envy them without your own plan. Do your best in your situation.” My friend answered me firmly. “Yes, you’re right. I am going to change my life!” I said hopefully. I realized that I was not a child who had to depend too much on others. Of course, it was a difficult process and it took a long time. Since then, I started with one tiny action: I talked to people who sat next to me and asked my professors questions to get information about my classes. I was also able to eat alone and make new friends in school without hesitation. My new environment and my remaining friends helped me change. At first it was very difficult, but I learned to enjoy it and gained self confidence. Finally, I successfully changed my shy personality to a more outgoing personality. So far I am maintaining my new personality with pleasure. Now I really appreciate my friends’ absences in my university life because it made my personality change for the better. This taught me something good can come out of something unpleasant.