I (18f) recently started college, and I noticed that I have the expectation that people will think I'm a weird girl and they'll end up treating me weirdly.
See, despite my extroversion, I grew up a little sheltered and undersocialized. I grew up as the awkward, Christian goody-two shoes, and was known for that from elementary through high school.
Since 13, I'd always get babied and be seen as "innocent" which lead to people babying me. It still happened even after I stopped being religious and started getting more confident.
I just feel like wherever I go, everyone's gonna see me as this babyish, awkward mess of a woman. No matter how confident I try to be, this fear always comes back. I even find myself overanalyzing interactions and looking for proof that, yes, these people think I'm an odd, innocent baby!
For example, I've done choir all my life. My high school choir was very competitive and toxic, the teacher treated me weirdly and picked favorites, and despite my peers telling me I'm talented and musically smart, I felt like I didn't belong.
I guess it "traumatized" me, because in my university choir, I barely talk out of fear I'll be the weird girl again. Its irrational, but I feel like everyone I speak to there clocks me as The Weird Baby™. I'm even terrified of speaking to the director because of this. How do I fix this?!