Elitism in respect to people who smoke/drink?

College Confidential Community
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<p>Sometimes I ask myself what happened to people. Teenagers are supposed to be crazy and stupid, doing things like experimenting with drugs and sex. I know this is a pointless and funny cliche, but it’s true. I’ve smoked some weed, and I party on the weekends where people drink.</p>

<p>And thus I never really fit into the whole “I’m an upper bound student, blah blah”. I was in pretty much all the AP and honors classes and managed to make it to UCLA because of my crazy Asian parents… but really, all of my friends are essentially in the ‘regular’ classes and are going to state schools.</p>

<p>Why? The “AP” kids look down on me. It’s obvious that I drink and party, and they hate me for it. The Asians say that I’m not acting Asain… *** is that supposed to mean? The other people say I’m wasting my life… I’m not, I’m having fun, I’m actually enjoying life instead of sitting at home on the weekends playing video games or studying for the SATs or something.</p>

<p>The new college generation that I see has come off as some socially-repressive elitist bunch. In my school, about 25 people got into UCLA. How many of them, besides me, admit that they like to drink and party? 1 other. An under represented minority, too.</p>

<p>What happened to having fun? Enjoying life? I’m not saying you have to do drugs or drink or party to enjoy life, but you know what I mean. Life’s more than sitting at home studying or playing video games. </p>

<p>Here are some of the things I’ve heard:</p>

<p>“I will never drink or smoke, only complete idiots do that.”
“Jade doesn’t deserve to go to UCLA, she’s a druggie.”
“I want a 2 room dorm because I don’t want to run the risk of getting more than 1 dumbass in my room.”
“I only want to room with people from my school just to be safe.”
“People who party never get any work done, so I’m not going to party at all.”
“I’m not going to get a girlfriend in college because it will be a distraction.”
“I want to be on a single-sex dorm so I don’t get distracted.”</p>

<p>This is the general consensus of the people at my school… I don’t know what it’s like at your school, but this kind of scares me. Is there no love with people that want to pursue an ‘alternate’ lifestyle… aka not being a nerd?</p>

<p>PS: What’s with the whole “I can’t live with someone who smokes or drinks. I don’t want people coming back to their dorm drunk/high?”? I don’t get it… how does it affect you at all?</p>

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<p>you do realize that you’re asking this question on a forum that consists mostly of the same type of people you’re criticizing, right?</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s as underrepresented as you think it is. Maybe around where you are but when you go to college, I guess, you’ll meet people from completely different backgrounds, and based on my experience, I know that for most people I know this isn’t true.
Sorry, that didn’t really make a lot of sense. I hope you can take out the essence of meaning from it though somehow. ???</p>

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<p>I agree with Qwertz.</p>

<p>Also I don’t think we should “expect” teenagers to do drugs. I think quite the opposite.</p>

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<p>^^ Elaborate. Why/why not?</p>

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<p>“Sometimes I ask myself what happened to people. Teenagers are supposed to be crazy and stupid, doing things like experimenting with drugs and sex. I know this is a pointless and funny cliche, but it’s true. I’ve smoked some weed, and I party on the weekends where people drink.”</p>

<p>Yeah, teenagers are supposed to go out and get wasted. That’s the definite point of life. Why are you even bothering to ask this in a COLLEGE forum? There are pothead forums out there. I’m sure you can ask on those forums.</p>

<p>“This is the general consensus of the people at my school… I don’t know what it’s like at your school, but this kind of scares me. Is there no love with people that want to pursue an ‘alternate’ lifestyle… aka not being a nerd?”</p>

<p>Yeah, because nerds are the only ones that don’t want to smoke cancer sticks, get drugged up in the head and get STDs by casual sex. </p>

<p>Your post is depressing. Move on. Teenagers are becoming smarter about their lives – why be upset about it? It’s not elitism. It’s just the smart thing to do. You can enjoy life all you want. Enjoyment is not defined by you. To them, being successful in college might be more important than going out an partying.</p>

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<p>murky elaborated for me ;)</p>

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<p>Haha, I don’t think Jade will be happy when she comes back and finds completely different responses than she probably was expecting.</p>

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<p>The Truth - they’re just jealous of you.</p>

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<p>some people have higher moral/personal standards than others. try seeing things from their point of view.</p>

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<p>Higher standards? That’s a load of crap, IMO. We have a kid going to Harvard who is a total pothead, and he definitely deserves it (Good stats, lots of EC’s, very likeable guy). But I digress…</p>

<p>High school is only a slice of the pie. We’ve got programs like D.A.R.E. that tell us that drugusers are 200% more likely to become alcoholic murderers who like to beat their wives. We’re definitely getting fed BS about marijuana. So don’t blame people if they buy into all that stuff.</p>

<p>Just shrug, don’t be offended, and tell them what you honestly think. Don’t try to force your views on them, but say exactly what you think, and let it go. Don’t preach.</p>

<p>Potheads have a reputation of being lazy, or bragging about their habit everytime they can. Don’t play into the stereotypes. That’s all you can do, really.</p>

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<p>^^ Jade will be happy when she sees your post. It’s basically the only one agreeing w/ her. Mine is very ambiguous even if you get to the essence of it and past the mumbled garbage that it sunshineyday.</p>

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<p>OP, speaking as someone who is on the opposite end of the spectrum that you’re on, in terms of party-ing, I think people get annoyed/judgemental because it’s seen as irresponsible. Everywhere you go, people are expected to “settle down” and just in general become more responsible as they grow older. So when you’re at an academically strong school like UCLA, students who’ve worked their tails off to get in will get annoyed/disconcerted at how you seem to be such an anomaly in that setting. Personally, I dont believe in vocally expressing such polarized opinoins such as the ones you quoted (partying is for idiots, etc), but I just feel that there’s plenty of ways to enjoy yourself without getting high or drunk.</p>

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<p>^^ I agree with your last sentence but as I tried to explain before–so many people, including my friends, do not agree and are not on the same page. I thought I was in the minority. I’m glad to hear that I’m not (even though it’s at your expense, sorry Jade.).</p>

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<p>Why be sorry? She’s asking why people get mad at her for being irresponsible and getting into UCLA, when there are more responsible, mature students that wanted to get into UCLA, maybe even more than her. On top of that, she’s basically asking, “Why do people get mad when I do irresponsible things?” The OP needs a reality check.</p>

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<p>Yes sunshine, youre definitely not in the minority as far as this board is concerned :D</p>

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<p>Actually at my school, it’s completely socially acceptable to do drugs, drink alcohol, and have sex. I’m one of the “nerds” because I don’t. </p>

<p>I don’t even have moral problems with it, I just don’t see the point. Why spend the money? Why have to worry about getting caught?</p>

<p>I have more fun with my sober friends than any of my “druggish” friends seem to be having.</p>

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<p>^^ Same. Except for the moral problems part.</p>

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<p>Well, I guess I should have said, “I don’t have any religious moral problems with it”</p>

<p>Is that the right wording? Cause I do think it’s wrong just because it harms you and there is no point for it.</p>

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<p>I think that makes more sense—or at least, I get what you’re saying, which is all that matters :D. But I now say “Same. Except for the religious moral problems part.”</p>