I have never been the life of the party or a ray of sunshine that everyone is just drawn to. I'd say during my teenage years, I was quite the opposite. I used to joke around if there was a high school superlative for "The Most Forgettable," that I would be the winner of that award. Of course, I would have to be remembered in order to hold that title, therefore it was never a thing.

However, going through high school and spending my early adult years in a part of the country where I always felt like I had to explain myself for all of my thoughts and reasonings seriously took a toll on me. After awhile as I got older, I realized that it didn't have to do with me being "weird" or even typical high school behavior, a lot of it was the part of the country in which I lived and commonly accepted social norms were not my own.

Even as an adult living in the south, I was constantly having to explain myself for why I liked certain things and why I disliked others. It was almost as if my opinions were wrong and their opinions were fact. It honestly became far too tiresome and at one point you just decide it's not worth the conversation. If someone is questioning your interests and trying to start an argument about it, it's probably not worth the time.

This is by no means an attempt to put down living in the south but it is simply to share my story and the struggles that I had with accepting the cultural values and social norms of living in the South, when I never felt accepted as a person. While I would never say I "tried" to fit in, I did try to see the other side and really be accepting of others, but the acceptance for me was just not there as a whole.

Below are six topics of conversation that I had run-ins with time and time again.

1. Hunting for sport is never frowned upon.

I literally just got a lump in my throat while typing this, but anyway living in the south hunting/killing animals for sport is very much commonplace. 99% of the time, I would hold my tongue in conversation with others when they would "brag" about their kill. Seeing pictures of dead deer across my Facebook newsfeed was very common during hunting season (whenever that even is?). However, I don't think I have ever once gotten into an argument with somebody regarding hunting because being in the south, I would "lose" that argument. But with that being said, my opinion is very strong on this subject.

And snakes. I grew up with pet snakes. My dad would pull over on the side of the highway to rescue a snake that was in the middle of the road. This is how I was brought up and constantly I ran into people killing snakes just for fun. This might happen all over the place, I'm not really sure but it always seemed to go hand in hand with the individuals who would get a rise out of hunting animals for sport. "I chopped its head off! Now let me post a picture for social media!" Literally makes me sick.

2. College football is a way of life.

I hate college football. I hate football in general. I'm just not a sports person and never have been and never will be. Football in the south though is a way of life. I seriously don't get it. Maybe someone should try to explain it to me? Nah, I'd rather not hear any more about it.

3. "Halloween is the devil's holiday."

This was a less common occurrence, but it still happened quite often. I remember having Halloween parties in school and several kids in the class would not attend on that day because their parents didn't believe in Halloween. Even as an adult, I came across a few people with this mindset.

If someone wants to have that belief, go right ahead. Doesn't bother me at all. The problem occurs when I get ridiculed for celebrating and enjoying Halloween, which did happen. They were never going to ruin my favorite holiday though, so it was all good.

4. If you don't listen to "new country music," then you're wrong.

Living in the south, you couldn't get away from country music which was probably why I disliked it so much. I'll call it radio pop country, but I literally had someone ask me before, "Why do you even live here if you don't like country music?" To their defense, that was a great question, though.

And the thing is, most of these people probably only listened to this new country. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and more classic names they probably didn't care anything about.

5. It's not a matter of "do you go to church?," but "where do you go?"

People wouldn't ask you in the south, "Do you go to church?" but instead they would ask, "What church do you go to?" This was the most uncomfortable question ever and the fact that it would happen in the workplace made it worse. I was always having to scramble to come up with some answer. Should have never been asked in a workplace and I shouldn't have been made to be pressured because I didn't go to church. And the really sad thing is that I couldn't come out and say I didn't go to church or that religion is not a part of my life. If I were to say that, I would have been judged beyond all reason and shunned.

Not to put myself up on a high horse, but I think my standard of morals is probably higher than the average individual and I am not a religious person at all. You can be a good person without having religion in your life to back every move you make. It is possible, believe it or not. Some of the nicest people I have met in my life have been people who have been strong in their religious faith and I can accept these people with no issues whatsoever. The issue comes when I am judged for who I am and what I do or don't believe. Why can't everybody just attempt to get along because isn't acceptance like a part of being a Christian?

6. Don't fit into the Southern mold? Then you're a Yankee!

Until like 9 months ago, I have only lived in the southern United States and I do have a slight southern accent I would say, yet this word "Yankee" was tossed around like a hot potato on several occasions. I grew up in Florida, which I'm pretty sure unless I'm mistaken is about as far south as you can get when it comes to a state. Sure, I grew up in northeast Florida and not the southern tip, but still...that is what I would consider the south.

I didn't understand what being called a Yankee even meant either. I know it was meant as a word for somebody not from the south, but it was used like it was supposed to be an insult. Another thing that somebody needs to explain to me, perhaps. Or better yet, not.

Again, I will conclude this by saying I met some of the nicest people while living in the south. There are a lot of good "folks" and a lot of people who aren't judgmental, but as a whole I had an extremely difficult time being myself and not getting ridiculed for it. And for the record, it's not just the south that has cultural norms...now in Colorado it's freakish that I don't hike and I don't drink beer. Everywhere has their own culture/values/hobbies and I'm still looking for a place that has mine, but in the meantime, I'll continue to do what I do and if that means standing out, then I'm quite okay with that.