Some people like her, some people hate her and many people around the world are straight-up obsessed with her, but regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, everybody knows Taylor Swift. At least, everybody knows the character she portrays publicly — the badass empowering young girls on the Eras Tour, the doting girlfriend cheering on Travis Kelce at NFL games and the woman who was embroiled for years in drama with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. But what was Taylor Swift like before she was famous? Turns out, people had polar opposite opinions about her then, too.
Before the Eras Tour’s surprise songs and choosing a lucky fan to get the “22” hat, Taylor Swift and her parents spent years hustling to get her exactly where she is today — raking in millions of dollars each night on tour. The Times (UK) spoke to several people who knew Taylor Swift back then, with several of her teachers from her private elementary school Wyndcroft sharing sweet memories. Cafeteria manager Nancy Boerner recalls always having pleasant interactions with young Taylor, saying:
I used to see her walk through that kitchen every day with her smile and she would say, ‘Hi, Mrs Nancy!’ And then she was off, ‘Bla bla bla bla.’ She’d always have something sweet to say. Always.
First-grade teacher Maureen Pemrick called her a “little sunbeam” and said Taylor Swift was responsible for gathering her classmates together to have a group hug. Music teacher Barbara Kolvek, meanwhile, said the young artist was “a determined little thing” who didn’t mind playing a boy’s part in a school play. She even used her lunchtime to practice her solo.
However, that determination apparently didn’t always translate as well to her peers. Before meeting bestie Selena Gomez and forming a longtime friendship with Blake Lively, a neighbor called Taylor Swift “very bright” but said she didn’t have a lot of friends.
It sounds like that social aspect was even harder when, as a teenager, Taylor Swift and her family moved to Nashville. Kids at her school allegedly saw her as “a bit of a brat,” as she drove a Lexus convertible and modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch. A former classmate said Swift also made it known that she was going to be a star. They recalled:
We kind of rolled our eyes because, being in Nashville, we hear that a lot. It was just such a strong statement for someone of that age.
Belief in herself is something that Taylor Swift never seemed to lack, and just as her elementary school art teacher Barbara Lenzi said she was confident, “but never too much,” songwriter Angelo Petraglia agreed she never crossed the line into being cocky. When he got called to work with then-14-year-old Swift, Petraglia said he was apprehensive about writing with a teenager at first. He continued:
But it was incredible to write with her. She had no fear. None at all. She seemed to know who she was already — she was Taylor Swift, even back then. You can get plenty of people coming in here feeling a little too much of themselves, but she wasn’t like that at all. She just knew what she wanted.
I guess what he’s trying to say is she was feeling like “The Man” even back then! Keep up with all of Taylor Swift’s upcoming projects, and you can continue to replay the best parts of The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) by streaming the concert movie with a Disney+ subscription.
