jk. But on the main point above, the whole staring because you're different is not the same as staring in awe because you're popular, like harlem said. Not even close and it's not hard to tell the difference.

It's not unique but I guarantee it happens a LOT more than other places. It doesn't matter if "most" students are from places other than Utah. When we're talking about 30000 people, something probably hovering around 40-50% of students, or even down to 30% is still thousands of people who might look at you strangely because you're not what they're used to.

Either way, it's hard to say to the people claiming they experience it that it's overblown.

I actually think the opposite might be overblown. As much as there are people saying something is this way or that way, 10 times over are people trying to downplay it in defense. Calling real things a "fun narrative." I think that's even more strange. Can't speak for thousands of others around us. BYU is definitely a place where people in a bubble might create the "narrative" that nothing is out of the ordinary when it really might be in terms of relation to other places. Face it, BYU and stereotypical LDS are peculiar. Is what it is.