Stereotypes against "nerds"

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I'm a smart person and generally also like to have a good time and party. (I'm now in college BTW).</p>

<p>But one thing that p1sses me off is the stereotypes/hatred/aversion that is directed toward people who are "smart", or have "brainpower".</p>

<p>I hate when people tell me to stop studying with some p1ssed off, annoyed tone in their voice, as if my studying is somehow harming their well-being. I also do not like people talking behind other people's backs about how other people study so much, and act as if it's something threatening to them.</p>

<p>We've all heard it..."she can't go out tonite"..."oh...she studies so much", etc...</p>

<p>as if studying were some disease.</p>

<p>You see the same things with ppl on CC, who harbor some mysterious hatred toward those with high stats and numerous accomplishments. Of course, when a person posts "1600, class president, etc...can i get into my community college?"...there's a reason to be annoyed, but some people seem to harbor this disgust even to smart CC'ers who are honest and want an honest evaluation.</p>

<p>Personally, I think it's just jealousy...when people tell me to stop working so hard. I do not ask of my fellow slackers to START studying, so what right do they have to tell me to STOP?</p>

<p>It's really just an issue of insecurity on the other person's part...bashing the studious student who works hard allows to slacker to superficially justify his laziness.</p>

<p>It is wrong to stereotype based on race, gender, homosexuality, etc, but so far, it does not seem wrong to bash people who work hard and are "overachievers"...in fact, such bashing is currently the popular thing to do.</p>

2

<p>You do have a good point, Cherrybarry. I guess what people who are telling overachievers to stop studying is to take a break and relax and go back to study later. Don't study from 4 til 5 am in the morning and not give enough sleep. =]</p>

3

<p>urghh.. i hate stereotypes...
that's why i didn't really like my high school (totally clique-oriented...(?))</p>

4

<p>Mmm, it also depends on the environment and the people around. At my current school, no one bashes like that. But they did tons at my previous school. </p>

<p>Yeah, they're just jealous.</p>

5

<p>-.-; Oi this reminds me of "Mean Girls."</p>

6

<p>I doubt many of them care enough to be jealous.</p>

7

<p>I think they want smart kids from stop studying because smart kids are the ones who are raising the curve in classes that results rest of the kids to do poorly in the class.</p>

8

<p>See, the odd thing is, I'm attracted to nerds. Yes, I mean in "that way." For me, the ultimate turn on is a guy who can beat me in chess and quote shakespeare. or get a better score on a math test than me.</p>

<p>I'm...a nerd myself, I think you would say. Except, at my school at least, I feel as if my group of friends transcends all those social cliques. Like me? I'm a starter on the field hockey team and I act. I also get honor roll, and I hang out with '"geeks" and "nerds" and I'm one of the few girls in the school that plays chess. For me, the whole athletic thing isn't enough. You have to be able to solve differential equations as well.</p>

<p>I don't know. Maybe I'm weird like that. But I just feel like...if you're not smart, what can you do for me? What can I do for you? I adore smart guys, what can I say. And I have a sneaking suspicion I might adore smart girls as well. Eeep.</p>

9

<p>"I think they want smart kids from stop studying because smart kids are the ones who are raising the curve in classes that results rest of the kids to do poorly in the class."</p>

<p>Guess people I'm around with are different. They're failing all of their classes in standard level.</p>

10

<p>"I think they want smart kids from stop studying because smart kids are the ones who are raising the curve in classes that results rest of the kids to do poorly in the class."</p>

<p>That is very true. When exam week was around, almost everybody I knew in my Chemistry (H) class asked me to intentionally "fail" the exam so the curve would not be as high. However, it was due to the class and teacher; there is almost an unanimous agreement that our teacher can't teach well and she's better off with Chem majors. Therefore, the concepts were hard to grasp, etc.</p>

<p>I am very annoyed by this notion that people cannot overachieve. For instance, one of my close friends suggests that I stop working so hard in my classes because even I applied myself to mediocrity, I'd still get an A. Sometimes I just want to say to stop bugging me about my own study habits and work ethic but I deal with it. These people are blatantly smart, but obviously do not like to work that hard (i.e. overachieve). And when I "overachieve," it makes them look like they're not applying their highest ability, per se. What I suggest is that these people just work their brains out and study any chance they get, instead of just telling others to "stop."</p>

11

<p>My school has a smart, but incredibly lazy culture. They have very strong, well thought-out opinions, but doing well academically is frowned upon. </p>

<p>While I certainly get my share of requests to purposely fail, what annoys me most is when they cheat. I believe three people in my grade, including me, do not regularly cheat on almost every test. Others are perfectly capable of getting A's or B's in even the harder courses, if only they would apply themselves. It's so bad that two of my teachers have had emotional breakdowns and begun crying in the middle of class, begging us not to cheat. However, they refuse to punish them (some people who have cheated have gotten better grades than those who have actually written their own papers), just rewarding those students. One teahcer is even refusing to write any recomendations for students in our class.... </p>

<p>"if you're not smart, what can you do for me? ... I adore smart guys"
This statement pretty much sums up my view of guys at my school.
Unfortunately, there is one intelligent guy and perhaps 3 or 4 girls who want to date him. It is also up for debate whether he is heterosexual or not. Coming from a small town, there really is anywhere else to look either....</p>

12

<p>" I also do not like people talking behind other people's backs about how other people study so much, and act as if it's something threatening to them."</p>

<p>I totally get what you're saying. This has happened to me twice, with really close friends ( they weren't like saying it in a mean way, just like commenting...but still, you know..its just not right). Sometimes people, occasionally, make of fun of certain things I say just becuase they sound "nerdy". Sometimes I quote authors, like not trying to be intellectual or anything of that sort but becuase I remember a passage or something that totally relates to what I'm doing at that moment. On other occasions people make fun of things I do, (ex: last week a national newspaper in my country printed two of my articles in their sunday edition). I have recieved comments such as stop studying etc but they're rarely meant with bad intentions, rather as a comment a worried friend would make.</p>

13

<p>lol I just got into Stanford and I was at this party, and I said something about my little sisters being annoying, and this girl's suddenly like:
"So do you just stay in your room all afternoon and do homework?"
She was serious though. It was kind of scary.</p>

14

<p>this is what i absolutely hate:
"ugh, you`re so smart, you suck."

. . . . . . . now there`s hatred coming.</p>

15

<p>AUGHH my god I hate that too kchen! I agree with you fully though cherrybarry. And I also really hate it when someone who IS clever but is just to lazy to put in ANY effort makes you seem like some alien freak because you do well. " Ohh that's so unfair I don't know how you do it .. I just couldn't be bothered.. it's to hard..: sigh (rolls eyes)</p>

16

<p>haha, yeah I hate hearing people say "I could be like you if I tried." that's a REALLY big "if I tried." </p>

<p>But cherrybarry, my theory is that everyone wants to be cool. Being laidback is seen as "cool." therefore, when people can distinguish themselves from you by saying "wow you study too much," they appear more "laid back," and they feel that they are "cool." But I'm usually wrong about everything, so don't take me too seriously...</p>

17

<p>i try to get out more often, like go shopping or watch movies with friends, so they don<code>t always think of me as someone who likes to stay at home and study (i don</code>t like to study at all).</p>

18

<p>I dont do this consciously, but I resent people who I know arent as smart as me, yet get higher grades. Usually only if they think that the fact they can study long enough to memorize a bunch of trivial facts and do well on a Civil War test makes them smarter than me. To those that are smarter and get better grades, I give them all the props in the world.</p>

19

<p>I hate it when classmates think that just because you are smart and use big words, you don't want to talk about anything remotely trivial. As if school were your life simply because you pay attention in class.</p>

20

<p>Vyse- imagine if your school didn't weight grades, and so all the people who take rememdial english and stuff have 4.0's and you have a 3.9 something b/c of an A- in advanced math, so they have a better class rank. And when they find out they're always like "Wow, I didn't know I was smarter than you!" (even though they couldn't even pronounce all your classes!)
It really sucks.</p>