Marge Simpson

It all began in the fall of 2016, as I was sitting (and having a good time) in my Cross Cultural Communication class on a Monday morning. As homework, my classmates and I had to take the Free Personality Test since we had learned about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in the previous class.

When I took the personality test the night before, I thought to myself that the chances of this being accurate are probably very low. Then again, that was the skeptical part of my personality doing the thinking.

The professor had already told us that this class was going to be fun, so I was looking forward to it. He then asked how many of us had taken the personality test, and only a few hadn’t, but that wasn’t a problem. After that, he put The Simpsons version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator on the board and things started to get very exciting. Since there are 16 personality types, there were 16 characters from The Simpsons. My result was ISFJ, and the matching character was: drumroll Marge Simpson.

After he mentioned the personality type and I quietly raised my hand, my classmates turned around to see who else was Marge, too. After counting three of us, the professor started laughing and said something along the lines of how the results of this test could not have been more accurate, because it fit me perfectly. I even raised my hand in a very quiet manner, as to not disturb anyone who was sitting close to me.

Introversion. The topic itself is so debatable and “mainstream” that I almost don’t want to write about it at all. But, hey, you never know. Maybe someone will find this story relatable.

I have always been the “quiet” one, and frankly, it never really bothered me… until I turned 18 and realised that my parents are no longer obliged to take care of me in many aspects of life. Shortly after I turned 18, I found out that I would be moving across the continent to study. Excitement, fear, you name it. I had all these mixed feelings, but I mostly felt good. I was especially excited when I found out what kind of people Finns are. Quiet people who want their personal space and mind their own business. What more could I ask for?

The following year and a half went by so fast, and I loved that country as much as I thought I would before even moving. I have made friends and met people who changed my life forever, which is the reason this piece of writing came to life. :)

As usual, everything in my life turns out to be better than I expect it to be. It’s almost three years later, and I’ve done just fine. Sitting that day in class changed something in me and I’m oh-so-grateful for it. Shortly after, I thought to myself that I’d go all out and get out of my comfort zone. Slowly but surely. I decided to apply for a double-degree program. It only took me four months to make the decision, which helped me to start seeing things from a different perspective. Instead of thinking of it as “ugh, I’m going to move, again”, I decided to approach the new change in my life with a different attitude. I decided to challenge myself, because why not.

It turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be, once again. “I have got to get rid of this scepticism in me”, I thought to myself every now and again. I moved to a part of Germany that has beautiful cities, the river Rhein, a lot of young people, and amazing public transportation system. Adapting to the new lifestyle wasn’t difficult at all. Just as I started getting comfortable, time went by and it’s only a couple of months until I will be done with university. At least for now. Yesterday I got the news that I’ll be an intern at a German company starting on Monday. A few days when I told my mom about the interview and my future plans, one of the things I mentioned was that the only thing I know how to do well is to be a student. After all, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past fifteen years.
Then, I remembered Marge Simpson again, and the promise I had made to myself about getting out and staying out of my comfort zone. Reality check. Instead of thinking that unpaid internships should not be a thing, I thought to myself that this is only temporary, and there is so much for me to learn out there. After all, everybody’s gotta start somewhere.

And so, I intend to stay out of my comfort zone and enjoy every bit of it.