In response to your autobiography, I believe that given your cultural and ethnic orientation as a Filipino who came from an Asian country, specifically from the Philippines, it could have been such a culture shock at the onset when you had to transfer to the United States. However, since the migration was revealed to have happened when you were just 10 years old, I am convinced that you had have enough time to assimilate in the American culture.
Likewise, being an only child also contributes to the fact that you were not innately exposed for socialization, supposedly with siblings in the nuclear family, since you had none. Thus, you most likely had to discern which activities, endeavors, interests, and preferences really represent an embodiment of your personality. This could be deduced from changing interests in sports, as well as in preferences in pets. I believe you exhibit an introverted personality by disliking making friends, wanting to go where there is no noise, or even in delving into activities that could be done in solitary such as planting vegetables and herbs in your own backyard. In addition, it could also be understood from the manifested behavior that since you had to migrate to the United States, your being classified as an international student proved to be initially challenging in terms of having to content with communicating and interacting with other students; as well as being expected to be slowly independent and eventually living on your own.
I therefore would suggest that you should build bridges instead of walls. This means that you should start learning how to interact and socialize more with other people from diverse cultures. The only way to overcome shyness is to be more open to opportunities to interact and communicate with others; and not to be afraid of being rejected or of failures; which are both parts of life.
Finally, I could honestly say that I would like to be friends with you so as to enable you to overcome your shyness and to show that through sharing experiences with other people, you could work on developing personal and academic growth, as needed in preparation for the accomplishment of future goals in life.
