Well, actually yes it is.
Being social, or at least trying to be is important. Aside from the emotional health factors of contact with others (some people require more or less depending on introversion, extroversion etc), it's actually pretty key to getting places in life.
As an example, I managed to become very social amongst the people I volunteer with. I had to. But I got to thinking recently what -wouldn't- have happened for me if I had eschewed my relations with them:
-I wouldn't have gotten my EMT class.
-I wouldn't have the job I have right now.
-I would've missed out on a fun trip to Portland and a chance to experience my career's testing process.
-I would be at least $100 poorer, as people have referred computer work to me.
-I wouldn't have had my taxes done for free last year.
-I would've missed out on many free meals from people inviting me over.
-I would've missed out on a lot of career counseling.
-I might not have learned to fish, or do lots of other little, practical things.
I'm sure the list could go on if I sat here long enough. Because people knew me well and saw that I was reliable and dependable, I've benefited.
To contrast, I present my step brother. Absolutely book smart beyond belief, loves math. But he's a recluse. He'll do anything usually to avoid going out or having to genuinely connect with people outside of his family. Infact he even recently switched to an online college from a brick-and-mortar community college (though most of his classes were online anyway). He thinks he wants to go in to electrical engineering.
The problem is, he has absolutely no practical skills outside of some basic household chores. To this day his driving still scares me, and I hope the guy never has to catch his own food or run a chainsaw. And I think it's harder for him to find employment because he hasn't learned how to actually make a connection with or relate to people; he's plastic and fake and thinks he's fine. His mother (my step mom) keeps asking me to keep an eye out for jobs for him...and it's like, come on. I am NOT going to run around asking if people have a job for my brother. He needs to be out and looking for it himself in some way. Did -I- have someone running around to find -me- a job? No. I found it myself. I'll refer him to work if I know of any that he can perform. But I'm not getting him an application or crap like that. That's just crippling him more.
I mean, when he got his first jobs the guy couldn't even put together his own job references. I know a lot of us have this problem here but at least we realize it AS a problem to try and fix. So what do his parents do? Go out and ask people they kinda know who've talked to this kid for about ten minutes if they'll vouch for him. Granted, he has a couple of real ones he can list now. But that's still a cheesy excuse to not try and actually make a real impression on whoever's interviewing him.
And he has absolutely no networking potential career-wise...and from what I understand, that's pretty crucial when you get in to those high-end jobs. Knowing people. What you know certainly counts, but who you know does, as well. If I were him, I'd be looking for job fairs, and trade shows or expositions relating to the field. I don't know...look in to internships. Whatever it is electrical engineers do to start out. Get to know some people, learn more about your path in life...otherwise he'll never be able to walk it. And I'd have stayed at that brick-and-mortar school, too, even if it is just community college. At least it can transfer to EWU.
