Callie Walker, 21, was a third year student at Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas when she decided to drive three hours to Austin and audition for the Real World.

“This Texas native spent her childhood years falling on hard times at one point living in a warehouse, then a junkyard—an experience that for years made her the butt of classmates’ jokes,” according to MTV press materials.

She interned as a photographer for the Washington Blade while she was here. MTV plays her up as some hillbilly, who’d dared to dream about seeing structures as tall as the Washington Monument before coming to D.C. (“But after so many years in the backwater, will the buzz of the capital be too much for her?” the MTV bio stated.)

I saw Callie out running twice—-sans cameras—-while the show was filming. (Creepy, I know. But of course someone running the “Real World Stalker Stalker” page is going to recognize cast members.) And she seemed pretty well-adjusted and content when I met her.  So hopefully, that’s not the best plot line they’ve got for her.

Photo credit: Kyle Gustafson / www.photokyle.com