Cold calling + class participation
Hello all,
This has been weighing on me for a while and I’m not sure how to deal with it. For context, I’m a transfer student. At my community college, classes were small and there was very little pressure to participate in discussions. I’m naturally very reserved. I prefer to do my work quietly and only ask questions after I’ve exhausted other resources. That worked well for me.
After transferring to a university, everything changed. I suddenly started feeling really lonely and inadequate, even though nothing else in my life had changed. A lot of my professors now require heavy class participation, or cold call and it’s caused me a lot of anxiety around school that I did not have before.
I’ve genuinely tried to push myself to be more involved. I even like some of my professors and want to engage, but when the moment comes, I just shut down. It’s like I can’t force myself to speak. Lately I’ve been feeling exhausted, jaded, and honestly kind of angry, and I don’t know what to do with those feelings.
I guess part of what I’m struggling with is understanding why participation is such a big deal in the first place? I learn better by listening and working things through on my own, so it’s hard to see why speaking up in class is treated as so important.
Is it gonna be impossible for me to get a good letter of recommendation? Do professors only see the more extroverted students as competent?