Ask The *Other* Teenager

Hey all. I’m a new user to these boards, and I thought being asked questions (and then answering them) would be a good way for you to get to know me. And as for me getting to know everyone else,you can learn a lot about other people from the questions they ask!

A bit of info about me then.

I’m 17years old, just finishing my first year of college. (English college, which is from 16-18 - sorry if I just insulted anyones intelligence)

I originally took 5 AS levels: Maths, Physics, English Language, Philosophy, and Psychology.

Next year (depending on the results of the exams I recently completed) I will be doing Physics, Psychology and Philosophy.

What else… I do martial arts, like to read, use a mac

Oh, and I recently lost my virginity :smiley:

Ask anything you want, you’ll get the brutal truth. If just one of the two are avaliable, you can choose which you’d like.

It might be a good idea to post everywhere else, as people don’t seem to be interested…

Or Not! You have posted in the proper forum, Crivens, so you’re off to a good start.

Welcome to the SDMB. If you want to be a proper member, there are a couple of things you can do to gain instant acceptance. If you’re somewhat attractive, post a link to nekkid pictures of yourself. This ploy is accepted by males, females, gays and straights. You can’t go wrong as you’re bound to make some group happy. Or else send money to fund one of the dopefests that is always pending, as that seems to work also.

Enjoy.

:cool:

Haha. Welcome to the boards. I second <b>John Carter of Mars</b> suggestion for nude photos. (kidding) For starters, what’s your ID mean?

I took A-level Psychology, and it was perhaps the worst choice I ever made ;). Anyway, what career choices do you have in mind?

Career? Something im really trying to not think about, to be honest. I don’t even know what course I want to do at Uni, let alone three years after that.

I have the grades to get into a top Uni, but due to the lack of variety in my A-levels, theres almost no science courses I can take. Doh. (Science is my main interest. Well, in college at least.)

I was basically hoping that getting a 2:1 or a first from a good university would ensure me a good job. Management or similar. However, it looks from the advice im getting that this is not true, but i don’t really want to get a PhD in anything other than physics based courses, which I cannot do, as I am not taking A-level maths.

There are a few options left, such as a physics course with a “foundation” year, however there arn’t many of these courses avaliable at good uni’s, which makes writing a personal statement difficult.

It’s looking like i’m going have to swallow my pride and do a course I don’t really love for the end result of a good job. Fun.

My ID? (sorry, I’ll learnt to quote later) 'Tis mearly a word from Terry Pratchett’s book, “The wee free men”. I think it’s meant to be a swear word, so sush. We don’t want the moderators finding out!

Thanks to everyone whose posted so far!

Ah I see. I haven’t read it, is it good? While we’re on books, What sort of books do you like?

Yes, It’s very good. Not his best, but I prefered it to the new harry potter.

My favourite book ever is Dune. It’s so wonderfully complex, every time I read it I discover a new nuance. It also has a great story, which blew my mind the first time I read it. And Paul Atredies rules. :slight_smile:

I also like Lord of the Rings, which I first read many a year ago, when I was 10/11. I think I may be starting to like Tolkiens otherworks an equal amount, especially the stories in “Unfinished Tales”

I’m also a fan of The Hitchhikers guide, although the last book was quite disapointing.

As to classical literature, I’m (slowly) making my way through “Crime and Punishment” and have recently given up on “The Trial” by Franz Kafka.
I also enjoyed the two Grahame Greene books I read. Infact, “The End of The Affair” is one of my favourite books, I’d say. It’s so very … human.

Thanks for the reply.

That’s what Dopers are for. I haven’t gotten around to reading the Dune series, yet. It’s sitting on my shelf, though. Looking at me. Besides being a student, obviously, what sort of things do you do? I’m a general computer geek, philosophy, and current events/history geek.

which college did you go to? I’m a stalker.

Read at least the first 50pages of “Dune”. It’s a bit…different at first, but the original should DEFINITELY be read at least once by everyone. Remember there is a glossary at the back!
The rest of the series doesn’t come close to the original book, but remember to NEVER buy the books by his son, Brian Herbert. They are so, so bad.

What else do I do? well, college has just finished for the summer, so i’m planning on relearning how to play the guitar, as I haven’t touched it in a good seven months :-(. I love music in general, and download much illegally, through p2p. I’m very interested in science, and enjoy reading articles on the internet about relativity, string theory and so on, that go totally over my head. But thats ok. Gigs are always good fun, going to the movies… im going paint balling for the first time ever on friday :slight_smile:

Philosophy interests me greatly, although I don’t like Hick and the other bloke who I can’t remember right now… They use “parallel dimensions” as an explanation for everything. I consider that cheating!

I don’t really want to say which college I go to. It’s not very big, and is near london. Sorry ** alexandra ** :frowning:

Same here. I just finished reading two Nietzsche books, his first and last… very interesting reading. I shall consider reading Dune, I imagine we have the originals, given my mother collects that sort of thing. Super string theory is very interesting, astronomy, astrophysics, are positively fascinating. I’m considering astrophysics myself, as a major.

What sort of music do you like?

Oh, also, here is The Official String Theory Site. Quite helpful in explaining it without making you go “Huh?”, though, albeit, often that’s the fun of reading such things. There it is, at any rate.

Thanks, ** if you don’t know ** (you’re being a great sport, keeping this thread semi-alive :slight_smile: )

My taste in music is absolutely everything. Except “gangsta rap” Because that sends me to sleep. Oh, and the Mariah Carey brand of pop.

I’ve got 1300 songs on my ipod, and that inculdes everything from Mozart to Metallica.

What I listen to depends on the situation/my mood. I like to revise or work to classical music. I often listen to thrash metal before karate to get my blood pumping. My favourite songs to play are power balards - Bon Jovi, some Guns n Roses and so on. I also have a weakness for cali punk, but only the good stuff. Bad Religion and NOFX for example, not the horrible “Good Charlotte” shudders

The best band I’ve seen recently live are “Something Corporate”. Their album (leaving through the window) is a bit lackluster, But they’re very good live. If you can find a copy of the rare song “konstantine” get it. It’s the best song ever for when you’re sad. As Terry Pratachett says (about a different song entirely)

  • It was a sad song. But it waved its sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could but you were still alive. *

No problem, really. I have nothing else to do. :wink: Call me iydkiwt, everyone else does. And it’s shorter than ‘if you don’t know i won’t tell’.

I haven’t heard of Something Corporate, honestly. But, sounds interesting :). For the record, Good Charlotte is from Baltimore, not California. Not sure how Baltimore would fit into a short word, like ‘cali punk’… but that’s what it is. Balt punk or something. I’m not a huge fan… I just happen to know because I’m from near where they are. Same state, anyway.

That’s a good quote. Do you have any pets? If so, what sort are they, and gush about how much you wuffle them.

Well, thats me told. But still, they (Good Charlotte) play what I would class as cali punk… I tend to avoid them, however, so I might be wrong.

No, I have no pets :frowning: my mum is allergic to most forms of pet hair, so I’ve never had one. My brother had a fist, but it died last week.

I really didn’t like that fish. It was only meant to be a tiny goldfish, but it was huge. Majorly mutant. I’m also pretty sure that it ate one of the other fish that was with it in the tank.

Whenever everyone else went out and I was told to feed the fish, I always forgot. I think the fish knew (I still don’t know its name). It used to look at me with its fishy eyes… It was too fat to do much swimming, but I could feel those eyes following me across the kitchen. If it wasn’t twenty times smaller than me, and trapped in it’s little aquatic world, I might have been scared.

I’ve always wanted a dog. I don’t so much like those tiny lap dogs though, I prefer larger dogs. Either a Golden Retriever or a Husky. Because they look cool. I’ve always gotten on well with friends dogs, and get slept on by cats. I think when I move out (and can afford one) I’ll probably get myself a dog.

Thanks again for the replys!

And any one else, feel free to join in. Please? Ask me anything! As an teenage boy, I know it all. And what I don’t know? well… that can’t be too important, can it?

What’s the local educational system like in S. England? Do you feel you got a good all-round education in (so far) college and in high school?

The education?

I’m catholic (well, baptised catholic at least. My personal beliefs are different) And so I went to a catholic high school, and am at catholic college. The high school required everyone to be baptised catholic, and it was mandatory to take religious education to GCSE level (end of high school exams taken at 16).
The college is more diverse, however it mainly draws from catholic high schools in the area, however not everyone is catholic. Catholics are just more likely to get in. There is quite a high muslim community in the college, and about 30/40 Hindus.
(sorry for the waffle, I just thought that would be best explained)

In general for England, the catholic schools have a slighly better level of education - or at least get higher scores on national tables. I’m aware it’s not exactly the same thing.

I think my education has been very well rounded, however I took ten subjects at GCSE, as opposed to the normal nine. I also chose five AS levels, as opposed to the normal four. As such, I’ve had a greater variety than most people. I also chose my AS levels expressly for their wariety, and so my all-round education may be superiour compared to those who specialised on just science or the arts.

As we’re a catholic college, we also have a “pastorial” session once a week, where a small class has some time with a religious teacher. This lesson concentraits on ethics/morality without being specific to one religion in particular. I find it too shallow to be much good, however.

To stop typing, I feel that my education has been good. Unfortunatly I have nothing else to compare it to.

Thanks for the response.

The education?

I’m catholic (well, baptised catholic at least. My personal beliefs are different) And so I went to a catholic high school, and am at catholic college. The high school required everyone to be baptised catholic, and it was mandatory to take religious education to GCSE level (end of high school exams taken at 16).
The college is more diverse, however it mainly draws from catholic high schools in the area, however not everyone is catholic. Catholics are just more likely to get in. There is quite a high muslim community in the college, and about 30/40 Hindus.
(sorry for the waffle, I just thought that would be best explained)

In general for England, the catholic schools have a slighly better level of education - or at least get higher scores on national tables. I’m aware it’s not exactly the same thing.

I think my education has been very well rounded, however I took ten subjects at GCSE, as opposed to the normal nine. I also chose five AS levels, as opposed to the normal four. As such, I’ve had a greater variety than most people. I also chose my AS levels expressly for their wariety, and so my all-round education may be superiour compared to those who specialised on just science or the arts.

As we’re a catholic college, we also have a “pastorial” session once a week, where a small class has some time with a religious teacher. This lesson concentraits on ethics/morality without being specific to one religion in particular. I find it too shallow to be much good, however.

To stop typing, I feel that my education has been good. Unfortunatly I have nothing else to compare it to.

Thanks for the response.

Doh. Sorry 'bout the double post.