Here, this lifelong misfit felt like a painfully average, fanny pack–toting tourist visiting a foreign land. I quickly became known as the gosh-darn-sweetest girl on campus, a real salt-of-the-earth type, sugar and spice and everything ugh. People often stopped me on campus and asked why I was smiling at them. “Do I know you?” they’d press when I told them that I was just being friendly. “No. I’m just being nice.” “Oh. Okay,” they’d say, narrowing their eyes. “I’m from the Midwest,” I’d explain. “Ohhhh,” they’d respond with understanding.
