So, if you’ve met me in person, you probably know I’m pretty shy and fairly social awkward until I get to know you. It’s all part of being an introvert. Another part of being an introvert is I’m not as good at reading non-verbal cues or subtexts in conversations, so it usually takes me bit to think over and process new ideas, concepts I don’t fully understand, and hell, sometimes even ones I do understand. This results in some pretty confused and blank looks from me in classes and meetings, despite the fact I perfectly understand the words someone is saying, I just might not fully process the meaning of those words until later.

So, that’s what faculty meetings about my thesis have been like for me. But you know what, I’m starting to get it.

DeLevie, I understand what you were saying about branding now. There is an element of it that should be addressed in my thesis. I just wasn’t as interested in the ideas of branding, so was trying to avoid them. Nope, can’t do that, and the results of my research to date have shown that branding of recycling programs is a large part of people not participating. So, yes, I will be revising/adjusting my thesis question based on this. I told you I’d understand a few hours later!

So, moral of the story is, yeah, I give blank looks a lot, but it doesn’t mean I mentally checked out. Usually it means my brain is racing trying to take in all the new information, and can’t process anything else. Processing…Processing…Processing.