Bryce Douglas Allen is afraid of girls.
"Girls to me are rather confusing," Allen said. "And it's human nature to fear what you don't understand."
Contrary to his claims, the 21-year-old advertising major, studying at BYU, has no trouble getting along with others.
"Everyone in my family is pretty outgoing," Allen said. "We're always talking, there is always noise."
Allen epitomizes the classic American country-boy upbringing. His mother teaches kindergarten through eighth grade in a two-room schoolhouse. His father is a rancher who also happens to be the mayor of Allen's hometown of Antimony, population 170.
"I grew up in a pretty small town," Allen said. "Two hours from the nearest mall, one hour from Wal-Mart, one hour from the movie theater, one hour from McDonalds."
Though cut off from mainstream American culture, Allen does not consider himself any different from his peers, even among a diverse BYU student body.
"The fact that I grew up in a tiny town on a cattle ranch doesn't make me a hick or some social weirdo," Allen said. "I'm sociable, though deep down in my heart I am a little farm boy."
According Allen's roommate Nat Harward, 21, from Cincinnati, Ohio, Allen is easy to get along with.
"He always finds a way to say something clever," Harward said. "He is a center of attention because of his humor."
Allen has even put himself in harm's way to be a people person. When he was 13 years old, Allen was injured while trying to break up a fight between two classmates.
"I tried to break it up," Allen said. "One kid just shoved me and I broke my arm. So ever since I just stay out of it."
Five years from now Allen sees himself graduating from BYU, married with children, and teaching seminary.
"My secret dream is to become a seminary teacher," Allen said. "I'm going teach seminary to high school students and it's going to be awesome."
