# Internship has made me realize how bad my social anxiety is



## CreamCheese (Jul 21, 2010)

I am doing a healthcare internship setup by my school where I have to interact with customers and my managers all day. It's making me realize how dry I come off and how difficult it is for me to show fake enthusiasm to try to make conversations so that the customers can feel happy with me. I know, in reality, I'm not that dry or boring of a person; I have a lot of interests, I watch the news, like sports, good music, books, etc. There's a lot I can talk about. But it just feels like there's never the right moment for conversation. I can't come off as naturally as some people can at every moment; I hesitate, I worry that something I say will come off the wrong way and will be misinterpreted. This thought process has been a problem of mine since childhood and is a small piece of the pie of the inconfidence I have in myself. I think I was getting really good at talking at one point, but once my college friendships went awry (in like only one year), I feel exhausted in trying to be more outgoing. I truly wish I had a likeable personality, I know I can have one as I'm completely different when I'm at home with my family or with people I'm comfortable with, but it's a different story when I'm outside; I'm too worried and hesitant about having the right things to say that that in itself makes me look like I have no personality. It's going to be tough entering the working world with this kind of behavior, as it seems like recruiters are looking for bubbly and vibrant people and I just can't. I'm known to be funny, but I can't do it with people I am not comfortable with. Does anybody else have this problem?


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## Pluto (Jun 2, 2013)

Yes I feel exactly the same way. I don't talk much at work especially to people or a higher authority as I know they will see me as unenthusiastic and awkward. And when I do feel like saying something I feel it is the wrong time to say it, like they are busy or they might think im not a good worker if I stop and chat about things not related to work.


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## masterridley (Jan 20, 2007)

Well, you're not going to get there if you don't allow yourself to fail. There's 99%, no, 100% probability of you saying something weird at one point, but it's the only way if you want to become the likeable person that deep down you know you are.


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