Sheryl: I was a student very interested in studying in a school that didn’t really value that. My best friend when I was in 7th grade told me I wasn’t cool enough to be her friend anymore and she just dropped me. So I made new friends, and I made new friends that other people said were the smart girls. That was code for being very uncool. We were not cool. We did not have dates. Boys did not like me. I did not get invited to the cool parties. But I had very close friendships with girls that are still my best friends today.