re: Southern Accents

I'm working on my PhD, I'm very well-read, well-traveled, but still have a pretty thick southern accent. I'v been told by a fairly good amount of northerners how lovely my accent. Sure, I've also been ridiculed for my accent on occasion but that doesn't really bother me. I'm not really change who I am because some dipshit from another part of the country thinks I should.