You would think that coming from the North and going to school down South wouldn’t be anything too problematic. However, being from Connecticut all the way down in Oklahoma, is apparently unheard of according to some of the people I’ve met down here. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to a big school down South and meeting new people. However, these are a few of the reasons why I hate going to school down South and being from the North:

---

1. People look at you like you have five heads after you tell them where you’re from.

Yes, I'm from the North, it's not like I'm from Mars. And NO, just because I'm from the North does NOT automatically mean I'm from New York City.

2. They constantly ask you why you’re even here, and why you couldn’t go to a school up North.

I don't have to explain myself to you. Maybe the northern schools didn't have my major (not in my case), or maybe I just wanted a change in location.

3. People get mad or weirded out if you say “sneakers” instead of “tennis shoes,” or “sweetened iced tea” instead of “sweet tea.”

I don't care if I live in the South, I will never refer to my sneakers as "tennis shoes." Unless we're going to play tennis, they technically aren't even tennis shoes. And why does everyone laugh when I ask for sweetened iced tea at restaurants rather than just saying "sweet tea?" Sorry that half the restaurants up north only carry unsweetened iced tea.

4. People expect you to have a New Jersey or Boston or New York accent just because you’re born and raised in the North.

I don't assume everyone from the South has a southern accent, so why would you assume I have a "yankee" accent (as some Southerners would call it)?

5. Being surrounded by Republicans and racists who bring politics into EVERYTHING.

I've grown up with Republicans up North, however the South takes it to a whole new level. I don't care if you have a Confederate flag or want to vote for Donald Trump, but it's the idiots that have Confederate flags and advertise how much they hate black people that piss me off. And no, sorry but we live in the 21st century, so the South will not rise again, you might as well just stop saying it now.

6. When it snows like one inch, everyone acts as if the world is ending.

They obviously don't know what snow is until they've actually been snowed in with three feet of snow and sheets of ice covering the road that cause about a thousand different car accidents. Southerners stock up on everything they can as soon as they even hear about upcoming snow, as if they're going to be snowed in for days; and it's like their entire world shuts down and gets put on hold until the snow melts (a.k.a. that next day).

7. People put their winter coats and boots on in 50-degree or above weather.

There's a 10 out of 10 chance that I'm probably going to be wearing shorts or sandals if it's above 50 degrees. Just looking at people dressed in full-on winter attire makes me sweat.

8. Everyone is OVERLY friendly.

Southern hospitality was something I was really looking forward to when I came here. However, people here are a little bit TOO friendly. I wasn't sure if it was because I'm used to rude people going on about their own lives up north, but people are just always smiling at you and asking you how you are. Like don't you people ever get tired of being nice? Because I know I do all the time.

9. Getting told I curse too much.

You're kidding, right? I have been told NUMEROUS times that I curse too much after cursing ONCE. Being told I curse too much makes me want to curse at you even more.

10. Someone asked me if Connecticut was next to California...

Did you even pass geography in middle school and high school?

11. People instantly assume you're a spoiled rich kid for some reason.

I have been asked this multiple times, and no I'm just an average middle-class person. Yes, I traveled to go to school all the way down South, but that doesn't mean I'm rich, OR spoiled for that matter.

12. A majority of the food is fried, unfortunately.

Salad and vegetables used to be some of my favorite foods before I came to school in the South, but they have the most repulsive tasting salads, and there's a good chance the vegetables are probably fried. Southerners just LOVE to fry their food, compared to grilling up north, which might I say is a whole lot healthier. They fry anything from gummy bears to okra to chicken.

13. No one ever leaves.

There's a good chance that you've been to Texas or Missouri (the surrounding states) if you're an Oklahoman from what I've heard. However, a majority of the people here have barely left the state, let alone the South in general. Most of the people I go to school with leave practically every weekend, to go home to their homes IN Oklahoma.

14. If you're not in a fraternity, sorority, or play a sport, you're basically nobody.

Fraternities and sororities are a big thing and taken very seriously down south compared to up north. The number one thing someone will most likely ask you at a college party in the South is, "What fraternity/sorority are you in?" And if you say none, there's a 50 percent chance they'll follow up with asking if you play any sports, rather. And if you don't play a sport either, apparently they consider you a nobody.

15. Being pushed into going to different churches through flyers and Bibles being handed out.

I understand I am in the Bible belt, ESPECIALLY being in Oklahoma. However, if I have told you no multiple times, or told you I am not religious, then quit trying to force your Bibles and flyers for Sunday mass at your church upon me when I'm trying to walk to class on campus or buy my groceries at Walmart.

---

I've had some getting used to the culture shock and adjusting from life in the North to the South. But these are things that have genuinely irritated me just from my past couple months of living the southern life. It's almost as if I'm a clownfish swimming in a tank with all goldfish.