Popularity vs Intelligence

Ok, when I was in highschool, I wasn't popular. Why? I could read, write, knew history, could play trumpet, drum, mallets, so forth, straight As in computer classes. I couldn't do math past 2+2=4, but pretty good in everything else. But then you get the "Like, totally, for like, oh my gosh" bimbos, even if they didn't look that good, were popular as all get out. Most of them couldn't read, seriously. Sit in English class doing the read out loud part and it is amazing. Anyone who was popular couldn't read. The jocks, the stoners, the bimbos, none of them. Reading the book "Tuesday's with Morrie" you have me, Sarah, Matt, the two goths, we could read no problem, but then when it time for a jock or someone to read. "The man said po, po, pohepiroimnufhtgs?" "That's police." "Oh."

Not really that bad, but to read this even they would be lost. And the teach, Mr. Belegrin was always yelling at them about how they could spell so many words wrong. Even more if it was typed due to not using spell checker.

But why is this? How come the people who don't need instructions on how to dress are shunned, unpopular, considered less, but the ones who can't figure out Fragile(fra-gee-lay?) are loved by everyone? Why is the bimbo who squeaks(their version of a laugh) when someone wears the "cutest shirt I like, totally have ever like, you know, seen!" Why is the guy who doesn't know what year the War of 1812 was is able to scoop up any woman he wants, does, and then scoops up another.(1812-1814) Or who won freaking Spanish American War. Had a stoner in my Government class, he just reeked of pot, nausiating, he didn't have the smell of it, he was it. Anyways, what are the first ten Amendments called? "Ten Commandments" What important document does We the People appear on? "I don't know." What did the Declaration of Independance do? "Made us a free country?"(It did NOTHING! It didn't mean anything until after we won the war. If we had lost it would be as meaningful as the Confederate Declaration)

IDK, maybe it was just my school were anyone with an IQ in the double digets is a god/goddess while anyone with an IQ above 99 is shunned. Are we shallow as a nation? Who is celebrated? The football star who passes because he the football star or the genisus who later goes on to cure cancer, or make a huge successful company. Who goes on to be an actress? The bimbo or the smart one who wouldn't need help reading the script. Who is the famous lip syncher? I mean "singer" Ashlee(how she spells it, wrong, but how she spells it, like Tifani instead of Tiffany) Simpson or Mary Albright?(thats not how you spell her name, but if she gonna be a singer it would be, it is more "sexy")

Are we shallow, or are we blind? We would rather give money to the football team that was 3-13 last year then the debate club or ag program or band that won states or nationals. My marching band I was in, we won Best Percussion at the Washington Dixie Classics, and yes I was in the percussion, or the ag program I was in, they go, EVERY YEAR to nationals(you have to get first in state to go to nationals), after winning state every year in Agronomy, Nature, Wildlife, and Sales. The football team? 3-13, 5-11, 6-10, 5-11, all 4 years I went they sucked. Now, who gets the money? The little Oregon Clay FFA that is feared by Cleveland, Toledo, Cinncinati, and Columbus? The team that the other teams say they are going for second cause they know we are gonna get first, the ones who bring in trophy after trophy after award, or the football team that would lose to the worse Canadian Football team.(that is a dig on Canadian football teams with the whole 100meter feilds,but a joke, nothing against my future home country when Bush&Co start up the draft)

Well, that is all, this little rant is really just me venting after hearing the football stadium is getting an upgrade while the FFA building has no heat and the greenhouses are being heated with heaters brought in by the teachers and students. My old school is made decent by the FFA, they planted the trees, made the flower boxes and bought the flowers, they buy the supplies that are needed to re-do the flag pole, while the football team who only exist for a couple of months a year are given thousands of dollars. Putting in new security fences since the school has moved from the Great Lakes Leagues to the City Leagues. Last year was first year, they got stomped. During pre-game performance by the our band the foorball team went out and attacked them, nearly caused a riot. The team had 3 members kicked out of the game.

You just give another example of what goes on every day. Most of the high schoolers and college students here were the smart ones in high school who don't get recognized for their talent. At my school, not even all sports get recognized! We are in our 2nd or 3rd year, and our football team has done horrible each year! However, when the boys XC team goes to state-the first sport to go to a state competition-we get merely an announcement on the intercom in the morning and a plaque. Whoop tee freekin do!

Do not worry about it. Just take comfort in the fact that you will have a gorgeous wife and will be wiping your bum with twenties (or whatever canadian piece of currency you want to use)! And they will be either a) entering the military to fight for God's Tool, Bush, or b) going absolutely nowhere and doing absolutely nothing with their lives! Yay!


maddox.xmission.net... presenting Douglas the Dumbass Highschool Jock! He'll be bagging your groceries in a few years because he actually thinks highschool sports mean something! Keep up the good bagging Douglas!

Popularity in highschool is based on economics. Popular higschool students generally come from affluent households. Unpopular or, worse, persecuted, highschool students, generally come from households the word "affluent" will never be used to describe.

There have been studies on this but you do not have to read a study to see it in action. Who are the three kids most likely to get beat up after school? What is the income level at home there? Who are the three kids most likely to be voted class president? What is the income level at home there?

It is not about ability. It is not about intelligence. It is about money. Prestige always is.

Originally posted by GirlinGray
Popularity in highschool is based on economics. Popular higschool students generally come from affluent households. Unpopular or, worse, persecuted, highschool students, generally come from households the word "affluent" will never be used to describe.

There have been studies on this but you do not have to read a study to see it in action. Who are the three kids most likely to get beat up after school? What is the income level at home there? Who are the three kids most likely to be voted class president? What is the income level at home there?

It is not about ability. It is not about intelligence. It is about money. Prestige always is.

I gotta dissagree with you there. I went to a high school where the average house hold income was probably over a million dollars (no exageration). I got to go there because I was smart enough to go there and my parents wanted me to have a good education. I would have been considered "poor" there (even though my parents did very well for themselves) and I was very popular.

I think that the problem is that the younger you are, the more important physical traits are. The athletes are popular because when you go "play" as a young kid, you are generaly playing sports, and thus, those kids are the best. That gravitates attention towards them and also builds social skills. Those that are good at sports also tend to be better looking, which obviously makes someone more charismatic.

As you get older, the different tribes tend to develope. The kids that are not "special" shower attention on those that are. In this case, it is those that are physically strong, fast, and good looking. Then there are those that rise up from the rest of the average kids who are outspoken and know how to get attention, generally through humor.

The best time for humor is class time, because during recess it's all games. This conflicts with the smart kids, because since they are "good" at school, they tend to enjoy it much more. So they get isolated even more.

Another thing is that those typically considered "nerds" (the smart kids that are not good at sports) also tend to have a bit of an elitist attitude because of their intelligence. Perhaps this is developed as a response to the isolation they feel after getting picked last for dodgeball through their childhood, but it is definatly there in a lot of them.

In general, I think a smart kid can be popular, but they need to have something to offer the "tribe" other then their homework. Most 13-15 year olds are not into deep discussions on the pros and cons of Kensyian economics in modern society, but they are into the other sex at this point. Again, those that are better physically are more atractive to the opposite sex, and are thus more "valuable". It's at this age that the social status is set through highschool.

It's also at this point that kids tend to discover alcohol and drugs. Those that get into this have a social advantage. Most popular highschool sohool parties involve booz/drugs. So the kids that can get this stuff become popular because social settings are based around what they can provide. Thats why in movies, the popular highschool guy is the jock that throws the crazy parties. Every school has one or two.

In short, just be happy you ARE smart. As you said, a lot of those kids are going to be flipping burgers while you are paying for lobster with your corprate expense account chatting it up with big time clients

This is one of those sad situations that each unfortunately bright individual faces, and it's largely due to 2 things: biological instinct, and social caste.

The younger one is, the less one has been conditioned to the social compact, and the stronger the base biological instinct. For instance, a toddler thinks nothing of stealing a toy, eating whatever it wants, or biting another child, unless it is conditioned not to by its guardians.

Time and Experience is another major factor in social conditioning against biological instinct. This is why young people typically make very stupid decisions, while older people typically make less stupid decisions. A younger male or female will usually have less experience, and be less inclined to listen to the advice of those with more experience, and thus mistakes have to be made before they can be learned from.

The combination of the lack of experience and the biological instinct overrides reason. This is why teenage girls will usually choose to go after the boys who exhibit brutish behavior. Because the brute is the first biologically sound partner. It dates back to ancient times where the man who could provide best for the family was the strongest, fastest, best fighter. Physique is the most readily apparent sign of the ability to provide, whereas intellect is not readily visible (and often, in the case of teens, is practically absent). Teenage boys, on the other hand, will likewise go for phsyically beautiful girls first, because the image of beauty is also largely tied to ancient instincts, such as the ability to produce children and nurse them. These are called traits in selective breeding, and since humans have been using primarily these traits, for eons, the majority of humanity are of subpar intelligence, but physically capable.

Later on, after a series of bad experiences with the brutes, or the beautiful, perhaps by the time they are in their 20's, males and females will begin looking for more modern forms of ability to provide, such as: financial stability, mental stability, sound ethics, and similar morals. The "Bad Boy" or "Naughty Chick" ceases to be as realistically appealing to those looking for a good stable relationship, though it still remains a fantasy. Millions of years of biological instinct are very difficult to overcome completely.

Thus, every teen must have a reckoning at some point: They can either choose popularity and a wide selection of mates, by becoming a brute or a beautiful... or they can accept that they will not, and instead get a good 10-year jump on the competition by going for someone of similar looks and mindset, or advance themselves in areas that will later prove to be very useful in the job market, which will, about ten years later, be a domineering force in determining who they can and can't attract. They can take pleasure in knowing that, as a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, they will be much more appealing at 30 than a fry cook, waitor, or janitor (which is what most of the popular kids will become).

I hope this helps, and if its any consolation, I went through the same thing. Fortunately, I realized this pretty early on, and so I simply changed my tactics. Instead of going after the pretty-yet-brainless cheerleaders, I went after the intellectual chicks. It made for MUCH more interesting dates, because I could actually hold a conversation with them without wanting to throttle them.

Originally posted by James the Lesser
...Anyone who was popular couldn't read. The jocks, the stoners, the bimbos, none of them...

You can't make a generalization like that. Just because someone is liked by other people doesn't mean they aren't intelligent. And what makes you think you can put every single person in some kind of category? Every person is so complex and different from the next that your statement just sounds ignorant.

...Had a stoner in my Government class, he just reeked of pot, nausiating, he didn't have the smell of it, he was it. Anyways, what are the first ten Amendments called? "Ten Commandments" What important document does We the People appear on? "I don't know." What did the Declaration of Independance do? "Made us a free country?"(It did NOTHING! It didn't mean anything until after we won the war. If we had lost it would be as meaningful as the Confederate Declaration)...

Millions of people smoke pot, including many very intelligent people. I smoke more days than not and have a 3.5 GPA.



I do agree with what you said about how schools fund sports way more readily than they fund any kind of extracirricular academic organization, and it's true that some "popular kids" can be assholes to kids who are not. But don't forget that just because someone is liked by a lot of people doesn't make them an *sshole. Most people really don't like *ssholes, I don't know what kind of school you go to. You are judging these kids just as much as they are judging you.

[edit on 4-2-2005 by cowboy dan]

Of course I am, I don't like them. Mr. Jock who failed math 2 years in a row but passed to next grade anyways. Ms. Like totally, what's like, IQ? Doesn't do anything in gym but passed to next grade anyways.(her excuse? she didn't want to SWEAT! Also, need 2 credits at my old school in gym, and 3 in math, to graduate, supposedly, but they all passed anyways) Mr. Stoned out of his mind, shows up 2-3 times a week, flunks everything, passed anyways. While me, I do enough work to pass in math, and excel in everything else, I tried, I did the work, I missed about 2weeks altogether out of 4 years, and I pass. There was only 1 cheerleader with half a braincell and she was asian, therefor wasn't affected by being blonde since she kept her natural hair color, black.(not that blondes are stupid, just blonde cheerleading like totally to much hairspray killing off brain cells) And the jocks? The basketball team and hockey team, they weren't to bad, but the football players? Why did they need to work? They are HS stars. HW? Just get one of his g/f to do it. Why should he be worried about reading, math, science, history, when he can throw a pigskin? He doesn't need a brain, he is gonna get a full scholarship to a good college cause he can throw a pigskin.

Sorry, but it pisses me off that these idiots and bimbos and brainless stoners did little to no work and got the same piece of paper as me. Well, except junoir year, them, being idiots, had a party, in the QBs house, which is two houses down from the police station. Rumor was so much drugs were flushed down the toilet it got plugged up. Had to go with second and third string guys rest of year since the 1st string guys were kicked off for alchohol, pot, coc aine, resisting arresst, running from the cops, speeding, running stop signs, so forth. Same with cheerleaders, except the asian one, she wasn't at the party. The JV cheerleading squad was happy, they got to become the Varsity Cheer Team.

But people like me? Mr. 138 Cognitive Ability(IQ to those who haven't read The Bell Curve) or Shadow, Mr. Reads Stephen Hawking Universe in a Nutshell, Theory of Everything, Black Holes and Baby Galaxies,(I did to, but he had to explain 30% of it to me) try hard, do well, and we get shafted.

And they aren't assholes, they just, well, a zombie would do better on a SAT then they would.

A piece of paper is just that. I have seen people who are brilliant who never finish college. They are smart enough to still make well over 6 figures regardless. I have seen people who are of average intelligence, but very hard workers and always do just fine for themselves. They will never be the top of the heap, but they will always be just fine.

You also have people who personality is so good that people just LIKE them. No matter what they do, people like them and they get by on that. They will always do fine. Sometimes people with very high IQ's never really do that well as they have a retarded emotional IQ. IE; they have no social skills.

When I went to HS it was important to be SMART and get good grades to be regarded well. My closest friends and I had major competive issues going on who would get better grades. It was a very affluent school and there wasn't alot of socio-economic differences. Mostly all upper middle class. Not alot of upper class or middle or below.

I was part of a popular group of kids. I wasn't the most popular but I never lacked for things to do or a date. I am also fairly smart(I have a high IQ)

My mother always had a way of turning problems back on your to make you look introspectively. If people are shunning you, ask yourself why?

Every high school is different though and different qualities are found attractive. In the long run, it is just 4 years of your life. You can be a nerd in HS and super cool in College. You may marry someone who would not have looked at you when you were 16, but at 26 your attractive qualities are the ones that matter at that point.

My husband is someone I probably would not have dated when I was in HS. He though really matured well!

Originally posted by James the Lesser
But why is this? How come the people who don't need instructions on how to dress are shunned, unpopular, considered less, but the ones who can't figure out Fragile(fra-gee-lay?) are loved by everyone?

You really like to write don't you? Took me a long time to get through that passage, but was interesting nevertheless.

There are many ways people answer your question. I personally like the trait perspective.

Bascially they are certain traits that are born with you. For example Mr. Jock is extroverted personality, he is going out, practical jokes, dislike reading type guy. And there is that quiet girl in the back of the room who doesn't even breathe, because it brings attention to her. (There was once a girl like that in my class, i am not being sexist of anything.)

See Mr. Jock is stuck on a self serving cycle, he goes out, makes friends, goes more out, makes more friends and becomes popular and that keeps on going. While Ms. Silent stays at the corner, doesn't go out, stays there, doesn't make any friends, and stays the same Ms. Silent throughout most of her life.

There are many other perpectives that I don't remember right out of the top of my head, but they answer your question too, sort off.

What triat pyschologists believed is that they are born with certain traits, and born without the rest. Some traits are socially required and favorable and others aren't. And the Mr. Jock has lucked out. And don't worry if you are not popular in school or not, it has almost no correlation to success in life.

But being extoverted has correlation with success.

Hope I answered your question.

Surf

James, not meaning to piss you off but people of intellect tend to threaten other people, they feel they don't measure up and don't want to feel debased just by being around them. I'm not saying that you are doing this but many people that are, on the average smarter, DO. Could be a backlash. As far as the football star getting ahead because of who he is, I don't buy it. It matters little because of the way the educational system is set up. He would have been moved along, just like the stoner that managed to put in the time, let alone the effort.

The system just sucks. A disservice to regular kids, an abomination to those that REALLY need the help.

Alright, real answers! Thanks surf, and especially Intrepid, one of the few who participated in the Great Lakes ATS Convention. I know about extro and intro, learned about it. And good points, and may explain why they are that way. An intro stays home, reads, goes on ATS and learns things, so forth. A extro goes out to parties, meets people, like attention, so forth. I, an intro, while in the band so kinda gets attention, read more, like to read, like to go onto ATS, while a extro would like to get attention, so he gets on the football team. So while the intro learns more, reads more, likes the studies, becomes a bookworm, the extro becomes a jock, and doesn't read as much, doesn't learn as many dif. things, not more, just dif. I know Japanese, Shadow knows Spanish, most jocks that I know of wouldn't know a second language unless you count ghetto as a second language.

Also, Intrepid, good point, Shadow used words even I had to look up, and that may make others nervous, feel less, that they don't know such fancy words. Like how I feel stupid when my freind uses ghetto, I have no idea what he is saying, like goat home(no clue, it isn't go home, he says goat home)

So, to intrepid and surf, thanks for counter points, so nice when not everyone agrees blindly, leads to knew thoughts, new discussion.

But why is this? How come the people who don't need instructions on how to dress are shunned, unpopular, considered less, but the ones who can't figure out Fragile(fra-gee-lay?) are loved by everyone? Why is the bimbo who squeaks(their version of a laugh) when someone wears the "cutest shirt I like, totally have ever like, you know, seen!" Why is the guy who doesn't know what year the War of 1812 was is able to scoop up any woman he wants, does, and then scoops up another.

Why? Because all those folks care about is popularity. They don't study, they don't care about history, they only care about image & impression management.

If you shift your value system to place image & socializing above intelligence & learning, then you can have those things as well. There is nothing inherently special about the popular folks except that they reinforce each other's values-- often at the expense of accepting people who value other things.

Of course, it entirely possible to be intelligent as well as popular. Your polarization of "intelligence vs. popularity" is irrational (I mean from a logical/ theoretical standpoint, this is not meant as a personal attack). Try to examine other social systems -- systems that exist outside of academics/school. You can have both.

It is your decision. If you change your reality, reality will change with you. You can have whatever you want, you just have to go through the behaviors & devote the time to pursuing your objectives. Just realize that you are also influencing your future reality. In 10 years how will you evaluate your decision?

MK

I have a sort of opposite problem with popularity, people (for a reason unknown to me) seem to like to talk to me, and act like I'm one of them, now I have no inkling to be popular, and it seems like everyone knows who I am, but I have the faintest who the h*ll they are.

Not all popular kids are stupid, I side with you on jocks having a less than normal I.Q. though, my cousin is popular, and shes very smart, some people I've known for along time that are popular are pretty smart.


Besides think of the future payoff,
The stupid popular girls will be in some trailer park, obese, yelling at there kids and waiting for there cheating husband to come home.

[edit on 2/4/2005 by iori_komei]

Originally posted by MKULTRA
Just realize that you are also influencing your future reality. In 10 years how will you evaluate your decision?

MK

And how will the others? Damn good point. Springsteen's "Glory Days" comes to mind. Sad to live in the past. I have found that my better days happened WAY after high school. Although I wished I had scored at least 1 goal playing soccer but as a fullback that isn't much of an option.

Popular people are not necessarily the smartest or the most wealthy and they most certainly are not the dumb ones. The popular people are the ones that smile, are outgoing and know how to interact with others. They have good social skills, but above all else, they SMILE.

Look at advertisements. They are filled with people smiling and appearing to have fun. People want to be around people that look like they are happy and always having fun. The 'trick' to being popular is to always appear as if you are happy and to have that 'I know the secret to happiness' type of attitude and appearance. It draws people to you. It makes people want to know more about you. THAT is what makes a person popular.

Where I grew up EVERYONE was wealthy. Money had nothing to do with popularity. Dumb people were NOT popular. The 'cool' thing was to be in advanced classes and get good grades so that we would be accepted to a prestigious University that had the added benefit of being a 'party school' and work our butts off to make as much money as our parents did, if not more. Anyone who didn't care about college or grades or making something of themselves was a waste of our time. And those quiet types that only spoke up when they had something negative to say about their depressing existance? We didn't bother with them either. High school is stressful enough as it is, who wants to hang out with someone that is going to just bring them down?

My husband grew up in an area where people did NOT have money and where not many people even bothered to graduate let alone go to college. Most of the people in the town didn't dream of anything more than working in the paper mill right after they dropped out or graduated from college. He went from being one of those kids that got beaten up every day to being voted Senior class President. He didn't become popular because his parents suddenly became rich or because he suddenly dumbed down. He became popular because he spent a summer 1,000 miles away working on music videos and everyone was shocked that he actually left this tiny little community and followed his dream. They made fun of him before because he would spend hours on artwork, but they stopped making fun of him and started being in awe of him when they saw where his artwork was leading him.

If you want to be popular I would say, start out with smiling. It makes all the difference in the world. Don't walk down the halls looking at your feet and avoiding people. Look people straight in the eye, smile and say 'hello'. Continue doing whatever it is you do that makes you happy, whether it's getting straight A's or playing the harmonica. Eventually people will see your talent and respect you for your hard work, but they won't bother to give you the time of day if you don't smile and put yourself out! The key to popularity isn't anything new. Society hasnt' changed. The smiling, bubbly personality will win over the dark, depressing personality every time.

Jemison

I understand you 100%. I go to a gifted school, but I see it in my neighborhood and when I visit my brother's school. A kid at my school built a machine that creates lightning and plasma (I forgot what it was called) and demonstrated it at the science fair. I told a kid I know from my brother's school about it and he thought I was lying, and that sort of thing can't happen. Then when I go to my religion class on Saturdays, we get assignments such as 150 word essays. My classmates said it takes them about two hours to write, but I wrote mine in five minutes before class. They also can't read well. I think it mostly depends on how much they care about education. Most kids think that they will become a football player or an actor or a singer. They need to wake up and discover that the world doesn't revolve around MTV.

Originally posted by James the Lesser
I know about extro and intro, learned about it. And good points, and may explain why they are that way. An intro stays home, reads, goes on ATS and learns things, so forth. A extro goes out to parties, meets people, like attention, so forth. I, an intro, while in the band so kinda gets attention, read more, like to read, like to go onto ATS, while a extro would like to get attention, so he gets on the football team. So while the intro learns more, reads more, likes the studies, becomes a bookworm, the extro becomes a jock, and doesn't read as much, doesn't learn as many dif. things, not more, just dif.

Not neccesarily. That is what they prefer to do, at least the extremists. If you get the time, take the Myer-Briggs (the real deal) personality test, really good test for determining if you are introverted or extroverted. As you might have guessesd rarely are people one specific thing. I think I got ENPF, I remember I got extroverted and the rest are extreme introvert qualities.

And not every introvert is on ATS and not every extrovert is on the football field. For example someone who jumps into a thread and talks and makes jokes is an extrovert and somoene who speaks very little and reads a lot is called an introvert.

One more thing, nothing wrong with being extrovert or introvert, they are only personality theories, that is right, only theories, so nothing to loose sleep over. There is always someone who gets really into these stuff.

Surf

2 hours to write 150 words? Dang, I did a 7 page essay in that time. Course, I was bored and had nothing else to do. It got a 35% f since my only sources were George Carlin, but I had fun writing it. Besides, was getting a 105% in the class, and the teacher strikes the lowest grade from your record, so it didn't really matter what I got on it.

Anyways, Smile? Smiling is stupid, only hollywood people have bright blerached teeth that blind people when they smile. It may make some people like you better though. Want to do an experiment? For one month, you smile, I don't, and we see who made the most amount of new friends.

Sounds like my like. I to am smart. Just not at math

So, I finally stumble across this thread. Sorry to hear you're having the same sort of experience that I was in highschool. Much like a few posters who commented, I live in an affleunt neighborhood. Let me tell you about highschool here, son.

There are two kinds of people in any social system- haves, and have nots. In highschool, ostracism cuts along three faults: money, conformity, and ritual barbarism. If you don't have money, set yourself apart from the pack, or are considered 'weak' for any reason, expect the herd to single you out. Expect the ire of the more predatory of your fellows. Meet any of the above conditions, and the best you can hope for is ostracism. Sorry, that's the name of the game and you can't change that.

The poor kids were just looked down on. The school had a uniform, but you could pick them out. You were acknowleged by the herd (because that is what they are, thoughtless, senseless beasts incapable of indepedence) and that was about it. I had an ex who lived on a less than affleunt street, and no one knew she existed. If you're different for any reason, expect fear or humiliation. Fear can quickly turn to hatred, though. My goth friends -though a bit odd looking- were socially normal, but outcast and feared for nothing more than the way they dressed. Finally, we coem to ritual barbarism. If you can't or won't drink people under the table, smoke a bowl, or do a few lines in the bathroom, don't expect much from anyone. It's a sign of oddity, they say, when you don't drink or get high. I barely drank back then, because I don't drink with people I don't trust. I don't fight unless I absolutely have to. Because of that (among other things) I was cast out.

Intelligence goes under conformity. If you're not apathetic towards your class, much less enjoy what you're doing, you're a freak. Trust me, I know. I'm smart (hell you've met me) and I enjoy the history. That made me a target. Because my school was in an affluent area, we had students whose lockers were more like pharmacy cabinets than anything else. It's hard to outrun a football player on coke, lemme tell you, or make someone tripping on '___' understand that no, you're not beating them with a baby marmoset.

Pick your battles, give all you have to give. Know that your martyrdom now will ensure your sucess later. While those that torment you bag groceries for the rest of their lives, you'll own a company and drive luxury cars.

I'm not saying your talents set you above your fellows, I'm saying that your unwillingness to follow where you are led does. Standing out and making yourself a target takes mroe courage than they will ever know.

Best of luck, mate.

DE