1. Braces.  Now I know you are thinking to yourself, “Rachel, just about everyone has had braces at some point - big deal.”  However, I’m pretty sure my overbite correction was more awkward than most.  You see, I thought colored rubber bands were “lame.”  And so instead of opting for the “regular” kind of metal-mouth, I decided to have gold braces.  Looking back, I probably looked like the (cheaper) 12 year old white girl version of this.  Trust me when I say that I took orthodontic lame to new heights.
2. Bangs.  In middle school, I decided I needed bangs because my older sister and all my friends had them.  This was problematic for two reasons. a) I have a cowlick near my hairline.  Now I really appreciate it because it attempts to give my flat hair some body, but back then I didn’t know how to tame it.  By the end of every day, I had about 3/4 of my bangs off to one side and the rest to the other.  I can’t ever recall having them stay in the middle.  b)  If you are envisioning sideswept bangs, think again.  Because I insisted on using a 1/4″ curling iron to fix them.  You would be more accurate if you envisioned big frizzy poofs sticking out of both temples.
3. Glasses.  I thought my glasses made me look sophisticated.  In actuality, I just looked like a nerd.  I’m pretty sure the frames came down to almost the apples of my cheeks.
4. Gymnastics.  I did competitive gymnastics growing up, which in my eyes put me leaps and bounds ahead of anyone who didn’t.  I was slightly oblivious to the fact that wearing gymnastics t-shirts to school and doing book reports (complete with poster boards…) on Shannon Miller was less than socially acceptable in the eyes of classmates.

I think the fact that cements it all is that I was completely convinced that I was awesome.  I suppose ignorance is bliss, because I’m not sure I would have made it through grades 6-8 if I had realized how big of a dork I was.  One of the single greatest things about my life right now is that there is absolutely no confusion that I am a nerd.  In fact, I get paid for it.  Life is good.