Wel, I’m just talking from one man’s experience of fraternity life. From what I saw of sororities in the early 80s, they seemed to be as supportive and helpful. YMMV, of course. Bear in mind, also, that “reality shows” do not depict reality.
magic8ball, may I take advantage of an area where your knowledge is likely superrior.
Last weekend I saw the movie The Fast Runner. What do people you konw think of that movie? Do you live anywhre near where the movie takes place? Have you ever visited? Is it a realistic portrayal of how Inuits still live?
Damned forgotten 
High school sucks. It will probably be much better when you go to college, if you choose a school that suits you.
And there isn’t really any such thing as “normal”. People like to fool themselves into thinking such things so they can “fit in”.
You can smell troll all you like, astro, but I happen to know this person. She is no more troll than you are President of the USA.
I know what she’s speaking of, because I also went through it. She is living in a shithole of a ‘city’, she lives in an isolated area, and her parents really stifle her. She should not be where she is.
However, and I say this with love, magic8ball: You should not come into a place full of (mostly) persons with superior intellect, whining about how people are stupid, without spelling, grammar, and syntax better than that at a grade five level. I love you, and I know that you’re having a rotten time, but this is not the place.
I rip so hard because I know there are others here who will do much, much worse, and I would rather not see that happen.
Case in point: Hamadryad had to physically restrain herself from coming in here and ripping you a new one for blatant idiocy, and she ONLY restrained herself because she knew it was you.
Well I know exactly what she means. My superior intellect is sure a drag. Dealing with you pitiful mortals has grown tiresome and I have become exasperated with the unending requests for my mental accuity. My fusion energy experiments have fallen so far behind that I’ve had to ask the phone company to call-block Stephen Hawkings (you can’t model the Big Bang as a cone, Steve-O - It’s a parabola. How many times must I tell you that? Now quit wasting my time.) I cannot solve world hunger with Little Ed calling me four times a day wanting to know the exact physiological mechanism for pigeon head bobbing. I’d tell him to ask my protege, Cecil, but apparently Cecil is being held prisoner in a Thailand brothel for failing to pay his rather large bill (which explains his recent hiatus and why the SD staff have been writing all the columns lately). And if I get one more call from Spoofe asking about toothbrush removal I’m going to snap.
Do not question those few of us who claim superior minds. In short, gentle posters, you all most bow before my claim of a superior mind. If you resist, I shall crush you. I will focus my exceptional mental powers upon your person and use telekinesis to crush your spleen into the consistency of strawberry sorbet. I will drink the tears of your offspring and feast upon the lamentations of your women.
Good day.
Could God dam a mind so well that even he could not run a river through it?
Foolish human!! My career consists of doing frighteningly elegant experiments on semi-sapient bipeds in controlled environments. Some I observe for decades, and learn valueable data from watching them interact, build inconsistant power hierarchies, and suddenly drop dead of coronary thrombosis. Fascinating!
Beeblebrox I am one of the few in this message board that has no intellect whatsoever. I need protection. I will be your bitch, that is I will follow your orders without question. Is that enough oh Lord of the four corners of earth. 
beeb, you gotta quit that shit. I’m dying over here from sum dam fit.
I got yer negative gravity RIGHT HERE…
andros, QTM, kindly rock on!
I’m off to tipe my memwoirs now…
Erm.
I grew up in Mayo, YT, I have some idea of what you’re dealing with. Fortunately, I said stuff like you did to my parents, who disabused me of any notions of superiority, and generally offered me some of the other advice in this thread.
Folks, while the feelings were poorly expressed, please be kind. It is hard to be the only one of your sort around. Even if you aren’t, it sometimes feels that way. It really is like that in some places up here. Anybody who does/says anything other than the norm is, at best, slightly weird and not to be associated with. At worst, they are verbally and physically abused. The norm? Think Deliverance, only with Northern accents.
I kid you not.
I wish I did. 
A First Nations friend of mine was going to college and trying to improve herself. Her family actively sabotaged her efforts, and one actually verbalized the reason - “How dare you try to be better than me?!?!” Lotsa that up here.
It gets better as you get older, magic8ball. Hang with the old farts, they’re much cooler anyways. And the REALLY cool ones won’t even notice your age…unless you aaahhhh, display somewhat like this. And you have places like this on the 'Net. I wish I could have had someplace like this to hang out as a teen. Betcher not feeling superior anymore.
Eventually, scaling your language and expressions to the intended audience will become second nature. And, though it’s hard when you come up with a good one, save the political jokes for those that can appreciate it…like us, we elects 'em. (Bada-BUMP…)
I realize Ginger that my language and grammar is somewhat…shitty… and I apologize for that. I was in a hurry.
and for all you guys that were nice and sopportive, thanks. means alot to me. I now Know theres hope for me yet.
oh, and december, that movie, fast runer? not even friggin close. nowadays theres no inuits that are like that. It wasn’t a true story, it was based on an Idea of what they thought the north was like. trust me, it is in NO way ANYTHING whatsoever like that.
Its all very stereotypical. But thats just what I think.
I have to go to school and slave away at 4 long, 85 minute classes while the teachers pound away at me.
Ask again tomorrow. . .
Chin up, kiddo.
Yes, elementary/middle/high schools are obnoxious times. I know the feeling, that when you are ready to discuss International Politics, Nietzsche, or Nuclear Disarmament, your peer group is ready to discuss Clothes, girl/boyfriends, or that one hot chick/guy from that movie that just came out. The worst part is, while everyone else can effectively rant about things that bug them, nobody can understand you! They look at you funny and say “Someone tried to assassinate Hamid Karzai? Who?”
My experience is that the smartest, sweetest people hang around with debate, and to a lesser extent, drama (at least in high school.)
Of course, the jury is still out on college for me, but things are looking up.
Good luck.
-Soup
Actually The Fast Runner is based on an ancient Inuit legend and written, starring, produced by, and directed entirely by Inuits - so I would hesitate to call it “stereotypical”. There was only one non-Inuit involved, and he was the cinematographer. December, asking whether the Northern Territory is like that today is similar to asking if Norway is similar to the setting in a Norwegian produced version of Beowolf.
Thank you for the info, Beeblebrox.
I’m glad to know that the Inuits don’t live that sort of life today. However, others have lived that way much more recently.
Farley Mowat’s book, People of the Deer, describes the harsh lives of the few remaining Ihalmiut – lives which in many ways resembled the incredibly difficult way of life portrayed in The Fast Runner. It’s a very moving book.
There’s your problem right there. Farley Mowat is full of shit, and never lived up here long enough to have attained the rank of sourdough. He is regarded with pitying contempt by most Northerners, especially when he dares to claim True North status.
I will have to admit he tells one helluva good story, though. And those books, inaccuracies and all, did do much for focusing attention on the Arctic.
We aren’t particularly enamored of Pierre Berton, either, FYI. Although, HIS stuff does have the virtue of being somewhat more accurate than good ol’ Farley.
How about “Solomon Gursky was here”, by Mordechai Richler?
‘Keep yer fork, dook, there’s pie a-comin!’
That is a riot, and my thoughts as well, only funnier. Is there still room in your fan club? 
Well if GingerOfTheNorth vouches for you, then there is hope. You said:
Well, if you want intellectual stimulation and an escape from your current situation that is the wrong approach, trust me. That approach in school just makes things harder later on. Being smart (or thinking your smart) is not enough sadly, you have to put in the work too. I did not figure that out in high school and it cost me, alot. I recovered, and with luck, four years of militar service and a ton of hard work went to a really good University and Law School, but it was much harder for me.
Buckle down now, or suffer later. Your choice.
Oh, try proofreading a bit before ripping on the intellectual shortcomings of others in the Pit.