Utah

I lived in Salt Lake City, Utah for three years. I enjoyed everything about the recreation, beauty, and pretty much everything else about living there. It was pretty much my first experience being a minority- as I am Caucasian with blond hair. (I haven't really believed that being female makes me a minority- probably just because I haven't had many experiences that made me feel that way.)

I worked at a school that was just a few miles from BYU (Brigham Young University, a university operated by the Mormon church, or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Mormons get a very bad reputation because very few people know much about their religion. The main fact people know of is polygamy, which has been outlawed by the official LDS (Latter-Day Saint) church and is only practiced by "rebels" in rural parts of Utah. Their religion is definitely a way of life, and there is definite pressure to conform. I was one of only three teachers at the school who was not Mormon, and 95% of my students were Mormon as well. That fact made me very nervous- and I was very sure that teachers and students had good first impressions of me before they found out I was not Mormon.

People in Utah automatically assumed that I was Mormon, mainly just because I have a "wholesome" appearance. I always appreciated the fact that I blended in, and it made me wonder what life must be like for any minority whose "minority-ness" sticks out immediately. People treated me well, but I was consistently told I would make a good Mormon, and I left Utah having received six copies of their sacred scripture, the Book of Mormon. All in all, I wouldn't have traded my time in Utah for anything. It was a great learning experience, and I made a lot of friends. I try to keep my experiences in mind at school where I deal with a majority of minority students (makes sense, right?).