ElwoodCuse, please allow me apologize. I was reluctant to name my school for this very reason. I sent you an email with some of my thoughts.
P.S. Tenacious D rules
Oh, how your comment about being a self-involved, arrogant snob made me laugh. Nice one.
Quite a few people everywhere are lemmings…even the “elite” schools. I would not pin the blame on your perceived impressions of the school’s status. And yeah, there are a lot of people that can’t construct a grammatical sentence these days-but they exist everywhere. Also, I think you’re sort of closing yourself off deliberately to deal with the fact that you don’t like where you are (and that’s where the convenient 95% comes from) but that’s just me. When I went to a supposedly “elite” school, everyone engaged in the same sort of behaviour you just described. But I don’t see how there isn’t “any” debate. I mean, you are Senor He of Dissent aren’t you? Why don’t you just cement your position as Resident Pissant without pissing off your profs (whose help you will need for recommendations). I mean, there are polite ways to do it. If you claim your situation for transferring is as helpless as you claim, why not be the person that instigates debate as opposed to just being silent?
I’m not being rude. Actually, your attitude problem reminds me of the one I used to have and you are quite funny about it. I probably still have a little bit of it (you know for that edge of feistiness) but it has largely dissolved-mostly because I got the hell out of dreary, grey Montreal. Which brings me to another point-are you sure you aren’t just in upstate New York bad weather doldrums?
I am rarely silent, I am very open in my classes, I used to voice my opinions even when they jeopardized my grade like in the case of 9/11 and that one particular professor I mentioned. Since then, however, I’m far more reticent about being too controversial. I can say I have an excellent relationship with all my professors. I treat them with respect, I laugh at their jokes, and I try not to disagree with them too much. I only take classes that I am sincerely interested in, and teachers normally only teach classes they care about as well so we generally get along. As for debate with my peers, believe me I do. But on many issues, its me against everyone else, it can get a little tiring.
I’m beginning to think this might be the case. In retrospect its common sense, political science is a field where you walk a fine line between perceptive and offensive with your words. I’m also realizing I’ve made an error that I’m quick to condemn others for, I made a broad generalization and didn’t stop to examine its credibility. Worse, I’m seeing that my own lack of initiative is half my problem, and my attitude is the other. But the most awful thing of all is I feel like I’ve always known these were my flaws. It was a strange twist of fate that its thread ended up in the Pit, this is the first time I’ve posted here. I guess I really needed to take a hard, critical look at myself. I can’t let myself behave or feel this way anymore. Man, when did I get so fucking uptight? It wasn’t always this way.
P.S. anu-la1979, pardon my ignorance, as you can by now tell my social skills aren’t just lacking they’re absent, but what was funny?
In my sophomore year, I met a friend through a class project who loved nothing more than intellectual discussion/debate of political themes and spent almost all their free time debating different friends on political themes. After I began to learn how to debate/discuss intellectual ideas, we began to have a ball with learning and vigorous discussion, all on an informal friendship level. What was even more fun was that we took whatever side we wanted on any issue, since we really agreed with each other the majority of the time anyways.
Perhaps there are informal institutions where you can find people who, like you, enjoy discussion of intellectual ideas [sub]and I also sincerely hope they don’t turn fundie on you like my friend and decide to debate nothing but their fundie beliefs from then on![/sub]
Interesting in that my boss’ daughter just visited your school last week for their graduate program in Archeology.
It occurred to me that maybe you should check out the community of international students? If I may be so bold as to generalize, I’d expect that they might have broader worldviews than the classmates who are driving you crazy. They’ve got several organizations on campus, and in my experience most organizations like this do not exclude interested Americans. http://students.syr.edu/student_orgs/orglist/
You might also consider doing some community service. I know that’s almost cliched, but it can be a source of satisfaction and could get you out of the campus rut. And take some of your focus off of your misery. 
Ever read The Closing Of The American Mind? Sigh. I miss my old school- when the alumni get together, the first question is “what are you reading?” the second is, “oh, Beowulf? Are you going to read it in the original language?” with the general assumption that everyone will be taking at least three languages just so they can read classics in the original languages… I think one of my friends is taking Aramaic, Latin, Renaissance Italian, and German…
Also the only place where students pass notes about Eliot and Milton…
Your experiences are why I’m avoiding going back to university.
When it comes to pseudosciences and mysticism I don’t put much stock in anything that can’t be tested by the scientific method. But, I do have a thing for Carl Jung, I’m really into his work on the collective unconscious, archetypes, and synchronicities. Dictionary.com says a synchronicity is a: “Coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related, conceived in Jungian theory as an explanatory principle on the same order as causality.” Some people believe they are clues fromthe collective unconsious about life choices. A moderately famous book called the “Celestine Prophesy” addresses this idea The book itself has its flaws, and Its kind of a fringe theory, but I believe I have experienced the phenomena Jung gave a name to many times. Recently, I’ve been having quite a few coincidences. Mostly small things, like I would see something on TV that specifically addressed an obscure topic I was discussing earlier that day (the example I’m thinking of is a Discovery Channel program about the evolutionary significance of beauty). Nothing i thought was telling me a direction to go in life, but slightly odd when they come in rapid succession. Amd, I’ve been having them for so long I barely notice them anymore. But tonight I had a doozy. I was reading Fark before passing out, a nightly custom and I followed a few links to a satirical horoscope. I never read horoscopes, in fact I am often amazed that many people give so much credence to astrology, but it was a geek humor site so I clicked on it just for kicks. But, much to my amazement mine really hit home. It was unlike all the other fake fortunes, and it captured my feelings about my situation. It made me realize enough is enough I can’t go on like this.
I am finally getting a clue, if I ever wish to make another new friend, my attitude and the way I treat people is simply not acceptable. I have to be more agreeable. Its not a concession of defeat, it’s a sign that I don’t want to be an enemy. I have to show people that I want their friendship. ‘Getting along’ is not conforming.
And Lel, thanks for your post, it showed me that my expectations about friendship are waaay out of line. I could hang out at mensa meetings and not find a single person who cared about the topics that I deem important or meaningful. Maybe all they care about is their scores on the next mensa test – or whatever. (nothing against any Mensanauts it was just a hypothetical). I need to cut Syracuse and basically everyone i encounter a whole lot of slack, its time to be a whole heck of lot nicer and more tolerant. I apologize for this ugly romp through my personal issues, but i think this has been really good for me, kind of dark and depressing, but im beginning to see light, and I thank you all for your help. i think… im done
P.S., Elwood, I am sorry about knocking ‘Cuse, you were right YMMV was definitely the case.
Ermmmm…my post was a playful diss at Harvard, NOT a playful diss at Syracuse University. I’m sorry that you read it as a slap at your school.
[sub]Jesus, leave it to a Syracuse man to totally miss the joke[/sub]
:looks down, checks letters on sweatshirt:
Hmm.
:looks up, reviews post:
Hmm.
YMMV, indeed.
I’m a frosh and a psych major, but I can sorta see what you are saying. Still everyone here isn’t jerk/princess/idiot/hi opal, trust me. Maybe its’ just the weather. Don’t worry, it’ll get better (wow, I almost believed that).
That’s Orangeman, I mean “HEY!”
Sorry, Ike. My bad.
You see ElwoodCuse 95% of the people at Syracuse are dumb;)