Taylor Swift Adjusts to the Spotlight

Taylor Swift presents "New Artist of the Year" at "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / Provided by Country Music Association.

Nov. 19, 2008 — Like a lot of teenagers, Taylor Swift had to learn the hard way that following the crowd doesn’t necessarily bring rewards.

"I tried so hard to be like everybody else and do what they did and like the things they liked," she told The Tennessean. "I tried so hard, and it didn’t work. They still didn’t want to be friends with me; they would still leave the lunch table when I sat down. So I found that trying to be like everyone else doesn’t work. It’s just better to be yourself and embrace the things about yourself that are different instead of trying to cover them up."

Taylor’s done that quite successfully. She’s written her own songs, based on the experiences of her life and relationships, and she’s done it with a sound that’s instantly identifiable. Now that she’s in a position of social prestige, she’s doing her best not to mimic the girls at the high-school lunch table.

"I saw the power that was given to the cool girls in high school, and I saw what they did with it," she said. "And what they did with it was, everyone wanted to talk to them. Therefore, they only talked to the people that were cool enough to talk to them. If everyone wants to talk to me, I’ll talk to everyone. I love people. I love having conversations, and I’m not used to people wanting to talk to me, so I have a blast at social events."

Taylor, GAC’s Artist of the Month for November, is slated to perform on Sunday’s American Music Awards and to co-host the Grammy Nominations special Dec. 3.