As a student at Dickinson College, being from Wisconsin definitely makes me part of a minority.

During my first year at Dickinson, I was pretty unprepared for the reactions of people when I told them where I was from. Being thrust from the Midwest to the East Coast is an awesome experience, but not without a significant learning curve.

Adopted from the iconic “5 Stages of Grief,” here are 5 stages all Midwestern students go through during their first year at an East coast school.

1. Shock and denial.

As you try to make friends during the first few weeks of school, you come to realize that the people here have no idea where your state is located on a map, nor do they share your taste in football teams. (The Patriots? Really?!)

You cannot handle how frequently your “funny” accent is pointed out. You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy, and that fact is becoming clearer and clearer with every second. You’re baffled by the fact that your friend of three weeks thought Wisconsin was Wyoming and considered you to be from the wild west. "This just CANNOT be happening, they MUST be joking," you say to yourself. You try to deny the fact that people don’t understand your origins, but the feelings of disbelief pass only with time.

2. Sorrow and guilt.

After a month of desperately trying to prove how cool your state is, you just can't seem to get through to your New England peers.

You miss home. You feel misunderstood. Your sorrow brings you to think that maybe you misjudged these people. Maybe it’s not their fault that they weren’t properly educated on Midwestern geography.

Maybe they don’t deserve to be called “Massholes.” Your initial feelings of shock morph into a guilty conscience, and you may even try on a Patriots jersey, just to see how it looks. Maybe.

3. Anger and bargaining.

You’ve tried everything in your will to strike a balance between your state pride and an open mind to the East Coasters.

But now, your state and your name are interchangeable, because you’re probably one of 5 kids at the school from that state. People call you out in the hallways, “What’s up, Wisconsin?!” You must go through a period of unrest before you learn to embrace these nicknames.

During this stage, you will blame the Coasties for you feeling singled out (even though they do like you). You will also most likely call Mom.

4. Reflection.

You have close friends at school now, and you feel glad that even though you’re from a foreign land to most of them, you’ve managed to catch a break.

You ruminate over whether the fact that you just ordered a Vineyard Vines shirt is making you one of “them,” but come to realize that you didn’t go to school out East just to remain cemented in your Midwestern roots.

You came here to meet different people and learn their stories.

5. Acceptance and hope.

You have fully accepted the fact that being from the Midwest makes you unique. You come to realize that the ways in which you relate to your friends at school (no matter where they may be from) are a direct result of your personality, and not your hometown.

You are so thankful you went to school out East because you have met so many different and amazing kinds of people, and you’ve had fun comparing and contrasting your life experiences with theirs.

You adopt the slang of your new surroundings, and schedule trips to visit your friends in Cape Cod, the Jersey Shore, or Manhattan during the summer.