You like me, you really like me?

I think as humans we all have this need to be liked for who we are. On a daily basis we are putting ourselves out there to be judged by the world. Some like us, and some don't. But we all want a fair shot, someone to formulate their opinion of us by spending time together, observing each other and actually meeting.
Yesterday I was talking with some students about the transition from the old teacher to me and I asked them about their first impressions of me. One student hesitated and said maybe he shouldn't say. Well I told him it was ok if it had been negative, because now there is mutual respect on both sides. He told me that at first he was not sure about me because his brother had told him that I irked him... when my student heard I was coming to teach at Hunter he asked his brother, "So, do you know Kjersti Parkes?" To which his brother replied, "Yes, why?", "Well she is the new teacher at Hunter," ..."Well good luck with that, she irks me..." ok, a little background. This student has an older brother who also attended Hunter six years after me. He actually was a student when I was on my mission. I've heard his brother mentioned, but I am pretty sure we've never met, interacted, hung out... maybe we have been introduced? So why in the world is he irked? I have racked my brain trying to come up with some time where we could have met for him to form his opinion of me. My youngest brother graduated before he was in school, so not through him. I was out of state when he was in high school and didn't come see any shows this guy was in at Hunter, and we have never even remotely been in the same social circle... what gives? I wonder how many other people I have inadvertently "irked"?