Textual Poaching

Living in Utah after a 15 year departure from the culture was a bit of a shock for me. I had moved to Texas when I was 5 from my birth place of Salt Lake City. When I decided to come to BYU, I wasn't completely prepared for the new values and cultural expectations that would greet me here along with the regular struggles of going to college.
I had been single all through high school which had allowed me to develop my personality separate from someone else. I noticed that a lot of my friends, when in a relationship, would take on a bit of the personality of whoever their significant other was at the time, while I would continue in my own way for better or worse. Previous to coming to Provo, I had heard about the almost predatory dating scene and in my narcissism was prepared to ward off all sorts of creepers everyone told me would soon present themselves. My actual experience couldn't have been more different.
I struggled to find a niche in Provo. I found my strong personality turned a lot of guys off here. Many were shocked that I said what I meant and didn't dance around behind codes or hidden meanings. More than once my freshman year I was told I needed to be more reserved in my opinions if I wanted to make things work with a guy. I needed to learn to hold my tongue.
However, because of these freakish experiences, I had to decide who I wanted to be. It wouldn't have been difficult for me to conform to some of those ideals. I could have easily put my head down and accepted the things and people in front of me. But I didn't. So when we were assigned to take a piece of media and make it our own, I decided to focus on this experience that I feel helped solidify who I am today.
We read in class a chapter about "how texts become real" which is usually when some aspect of that text becomes something we not only love, but accept and use in our lives. In 2008, Beyoncé released Single Ladies and took over the airwaves everywhere. Her dance moves started millions of fan videos and every radio station played it at least every other song. I began listening to it facetiously because my brother hated it, but soon it became something of an anthem for my friends and I. Similarly, my high school was also swept up by The Creep and between the two, we had my dating history summed up. Because of my experiences, these two texts felt very relatable and thus amplified my affection for them. So combining these, I decided to take the assumption I had about Provo culture, or the creepers, and match it with what I had to decide to be, which was more of the "single mentality." Together, they create a piece that is more personal and specific to me than they would alone.