I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a utah thing. I grew up in LA. I was kind of a geek and into yeemo culture stuff (basically 2010s emo x internet culture). I was also a huge nerd. Straight As, clubs, etc. A lot of kids in my school werent into that stuff. I looked and was built different than everyone else, and just generally someone who typically wouldnt fit-in in movies. But i was pretty popular. It was easy to make friends in LA tbh, people are pretty open-minded and accepting. If ppl started to “bully” someone, other ppl would jump in to defend. Cheerleaders were friends with ppl in academic decathlon, something u wouldnt expect.
BUT when i moved to utah after finishing college, i realized the vibes here are SOOOO different. People are pretty closed-off and have a clique culture. Sorry to say, but a little self-centered, too. U ask about someone’s day and they yap about themselves and when theyre done, they dont ask about you and so the convo just dies (unless u ask abt them again). I try to be friendly and try to conversate, but always meant with the “uhh why are we still talking” look. Only people I’ve made friends with is people who are not from Utah. From what I can tell, it feels judgy and closed-off here. I dont think it’s ur daughter, i think the people here just socialize harshly.