Essence?

A friend who took her qualifying exams in the fall, this quiet girl I know from Iowa who tends to drink a lot and hang out at bars by herself, said that your personal essence comes through in the stressful period like a couple months before you're due to take them.

In her case, she said, she's always needed her alone time, but this time it was ridiculous, and it was like she couldn't see people.

In my case, I think I am -

- very very social in my time that I'm not studying.
- staying out too late when I go out.
- having low tolerance for people I run across in my everyday life but do not choose to spend time with.
- reading exceptionally trashy books in my spare time moments I'm not being social (right now I'm reading a Michael Jackson bio, which isn't that trashy, but I ILLed the conversion story of Jeffrey Dahmer the other week and am waiting for it to come in).

I wonder if that's my essence.