<p>Ok so the class ranks came out today (b/c our GPA freezes after first semester, which ended a week or so again) and people were surprised that I was #2 in my class. I don't know, i think it bothers me that they never really considered me "smart?" I mean sure, it doesn't really matter what people think of me, but... grrr I get so mad because I don't fit the whole nerdy-stereotype-math-team-school-pianst-violinist-glasses-type kind of geeky girl that is considered "smart" you know? I mean i take classes with those kinds of people in class, but outside of class I hang out with more of the mainstream-partiers-going-to-football-gamers people. </p>
<p>I guess it's also because I never once bragged about anything. Anytime I won an award or did well in something, I kept it private. The only test scores I told people were the scores that I got Cs or lower in... otherwise when people asked me, i always say "i could have done better" and left it at that even if I set the curve on the test. I guess I didn't want people to think I was this total brainiac and start acting all weird and intimidated around me. </p>
<p>but now they're starting to act weird around me. hmph</p>
<p>I am really sorry. I empathize when it comes to not fitting the mold of the "sterotypical nerd." I myself am first in my class, and shockingly, I'm not in the school band! Also, my friends are average kids who lead normal social lives! </p>
<p>What I hate is that the stereotypical intellectuals hold much contempt towards me. You know. Death glares and the occassional marking of a correct answer as "wrong" during peer grading. It sucks. </p>
<p>But we'll stay on top! :)</p>
<p>Have you been getting more negative or positive feedback?</p>
<p>you hid who you were, and maybe its not the brainiac part, but the percieved dishonesty...I am not saying you were, but this is HS...and when they figure out the "oh I could have done better" bit, maybe they are seeing it now as "gee, guess getting a 98 wasn't good enough" it can come across as them being not good enough</p>
<p>they may be acting weird, or you may be sensing something that is not there</p>
<p>give it some time, and find your closest friends and feel them out</p>
<p>I am not blaming you at all for how you handled your grades, you actually showed alot of class, but as I said this is HIGHSCHOOL, and in HS, people see things strangley, and in a bit time, it will blow over..your real friends will be happy for you, the others are probablly more worried about their own grades and college, etc than they are about you</p>
<p>and CONGRATULATIONS!!! be proud of yourself and celebrate a bit...it will blow over as soon as someone parties too hard or gets dumped</p>
<p>and i dunno, maybe that's just your school. most of our nhs (which is extremely hard to get into, only about 20 kids / 450 with the highest weighted GPAs) are the mainstream partiers in my school, and a LOT of the smart kids in my class who work really hard in school also party hard and are really social people ;) so yeah, just deal with the hs prejudice... it'll be gone in college. (hopefully)</p>
<p>It depends more upon how you act than what grades you get; anyone can get all A's if they spend every waking hour studying, but only certain people can actually be considered "smart" even when they don't exert much effort in school.</p>
<p>I know a bunch of people that get good grades, but due to their immaturity or general interests, I won't really consider them smart.</p>
<p>Football players aren't known for intellectual discussion, and I can't say that you aren't smart specifically, but if you talk about the same general things as "normal" people and football players, I can easily see how people might not believe that you're smart.</p>
<p>I fit the sterotype for nerd (although I DO have a social life), and I think I'd like it better than your situation. But it does get annoying when everyone expects you to be #1 (actually, I'm #2), and you suprisingly don't dp so well one time around.</p>
<p>well it's not like I'm being dishonest, I just didn't want, "Oh yeah, she set the curve on the test again" and people just glaring bad glances at me.</p>
<p>and i never fit in with the grade grubbers at my school. like people (who expected to be higher in rank than I) would calculate their grades to the .00001% (or something like it) while I'd be relaxed and have this nonchalant attitude. i mean i didn't plan to be valdectorian since eighth grade or whatever, my rank just sorta happened because i took a lot of AP classes and I really embraced learning the material, which really helped me in papers, essays, and tests.</p>
<p>the feedback has been... somewhat neutral. it's weird how people act so shyly or something because of insecurity reasons? blah.</p>
<p>um, i have to say that I'm almost exactly like you in school (never telling grades, etc) and have a 1 or 2 rank...that said, people pretty much HATE when you don't tell grades and then get higher than them. High school kids are jealous, and annoying!</p>
<p>Another thing-you may want to take a look at how you answer in class. If you're always making random, ditzy comments, it might be why people don't think you're smart. (One of the girls in my class, who is alot like you, in almost all honors classes etc, always says random stuff in class and people have told me that they wonder why she's even in the class. She has like a 98 in some of them!)</p>
<p>Also, I think you (while not realizing it) may have a prejudice towards people who are "math-team piano playing glasses wearing". Do you ever treat the people in your AP classes different than ones in your regular classes? For example, you talk to the "honors kids" only to ask questions about the courses, and regular kids only to hang out? There might be people in your class who think you are stuck-up (I sort of sense a superiority in your post over "nerds"), or people are jealous of their own lack of social lives. </p>
<p>Side comment i had to get out-
Guess what? I'm a math team, piano playing, glasses wearing, girl. Then again, I don't think this defines me as a person, and if you wouldn't want to get to know the person underneath, that is probably why they don't like you. Just as being a cheerleader means you're blond and ditzy, a person whose on math team doesn't equal study-all-the-time, no-fun, no-life. Just as you don't want people to say, "OMG why is she even in this class?" because you have a social life, don't be all "OMG why is she such a nerd?" because you get good grades. </p>
<p>That's really tough. Luckily for me, that situation has never come up in my school, because most of the 'over-achievers' are really laid-back. NONE of us fit the 'stereotypical nerd' label. The REALLY smart people are so nice and goofy.... it never seems as if anyone is shoving his or her intelligence down your throat.</p>
<p>I can relate a bit to you, though. Until class ranks came out and everybody suddenly knew where everyone else ranked, I think that very little people would list me as one of the ten smartest people at our school. Nobody was SHOCKED to hear my rank, but I don't think that they were expecting it, either. However, don't feel badly about yourself. The people who flaunt their intelligence usually have a reason for doing so-- they aren't actually as smart as other people, and therefore need to shove big words and mathematical terms down others' throats. In fact, the school 'genius' wasn't even in the top 40 in my school. So, don't let others think that you deserve your rank. You obviously do!</p>
<p>Yeah, i admit i kind of act ditzy during class... sleeping a lot of the time. lol, it gets early</p>
<p>i have a hard time with the people i hang out with. see i have a lot of cool nerdy geeky academically focused friends. and i hang out with them for movies, coffee, and study groups especially... but i mean i have other friends who aren't as academically driven (most of them are going to the local colleges around) and they are people i hang out with when i just go out and have a good time.</p>
<p>and i agree with you, LesOs... nobody was "shocked" like "gaped mouth shock" when i told them, but they weren't expecting me to be up there.. perhaps like in the top 10% or something, but definitely not #2/823</p>
<p>oh well, who cares? let's just enjoy our senior year!</p>