Holiday Parties

This morning I got a reminder email about a department holiday party tonight. Maybe it's because I'm an introvert, but even thinking about going drains my energy. It's not that I don't like the people in the department. They're all very nice and of course many are my friends. But there's something about going to these functions that just makes me so tired. You have to be "on" the entire time. It's like you can't really be completely you while you're there. Instead, you have to be your "school self" which means walking the line between having fun and not revealing parts of yourself that only your closest friends should know. It helps if some in your circle of friends will be there too, but then I think why do we go? Why not just hang out as the small group of us? The answer: mingling is part of being at a party. Then I'm back to where I started.

So, my blog-reading friends, to go or not to go?

Today's Grad Gravy: Don't do anything you don't want to do.