I don’t work in Student Affairs. In my sophomore year of college I did apply for an RA position, but the interview was a disaster and I didn’t get the gig. No hard feelings though. I ended up finding other uses for my time, like running the club Cheese Lovers United, but that’s a story for another day…
Despite my lack of student affairs experience I decided to read The I’s Have It because:
a) It’s about introversion!
b) I enjoy reading books by people with very difference experiences than me.
c) Amma Marfo and I follow each other on Twitter and she seems like a nice person.
Turns out that although it was written with student affairs professionals in mind, most of the advice and insights can be transferable to other jobs, particularly customer-facing roles.
The I’s Have It would be an easy first read if you’re new to the concept of introversion. It’s also full of quotes from other introvert-centered books, so it can provide you with a good introduction to the literature out there (and she has a great “On The Shoulders Of Giants” resource section in the back).
Amma’s down-to-earth writing style made the book engaging and accessible. And as someone who’s read a lot about introversion, I appreciated her new insights. Speaking of insights, I often have a short attention span so I also appreciated that each chapter ended with a few “INsights,” tips and bite-sized summaries of what was discussed.
Another thing I LOVE about the book—its metaphors. Here’s one of my favorites:
“Introverts are the pasta of the world. We need a lot more moving around room to effectively serve our purpose. We can’t take the high heat as long as rice can. And, most important to this chapter, after a given amount of time we have to get out of the highly stimulated environment that is hot water. If we don’t…well, I think we’ve all had overcooked pasta. It’s simply not at its best when it gets too hot. And, as introverts, neither are we.”
And, I found out yesterday that Amma’s doing a giveaway for the book (closes August 9th) at:
http://ammamarfo.com/2015/08/03/i-want-you-to-have-something-august-book-giveaway
Happy reading.
