Thanks for that link, looks like a really cool place. Though I can't go this year because I'll be in Germany all of July. And yes, it's not hard, it's nearly impossible. I don't get along with anyone my age. Hopefully that'll change when I transfer to a less awful school in 2 weeks(or should I say I know it will change) where they are concerned with things other than Justin Biber and rap.

Sounds to me like your just more mature than other kids your age.....IMHO you shouldnt have to like Justin Bieber and rap to fit in (Id rather commit Hara Kari than listen to an hour of Justin Bieber), sounds like theyre the ones with the mental problems and not you; joining a fish club sounds like a great idea. I bought William l. Pfliegers "The Fishes of Missouri" for $10.00 online, check Jonahs Aquarium and Amazon Books used book section.....they often have some good deals.

I don't get along with anyone my age.

Aw, you poor kid. Just remember to smile at people and be nice to them. If you're constantly nice to others, you'll make friends in no time.

When I read Pylo's statement about not getting along, I think I assumed differently than Erica did. I think it is horribly difficult to be in any situation where you are too different from everyone else. It's uncomfortable and boring, and you tend to get bullied. It's worse when you are young, too. When people get older, most of us get more mature and more tolerant. I still think Erica's advice is great, because getting along with people, even if you don't like them much (or at all), is an important life skill. It makes things much easier. So hang in there, things will get better! As you get older you'll have more choices about who to associate with.

Our high school is big. It draws students from two junior high schools, so there are a lot more students there. In that situation, there are more likely to be a few people whose company you'll enjoy. They won't ALL be Justin Bieber fans.

I agree. Take as many AP courses as you can in high school.

Also do as much research as possible in college. That's the thing I tell all of our incoming freshman, because out-of-class experience really sets you apart from everyone else on a job application and in selection processes.

I'm a Chemical Engineering major in undergraduate college right now, and I can tell you from personal experience that which college you go to and what you do to prepare for it makes a huge difference. I'm at Case Western Reserve University, and I love it. It's an engineering school. A couple of my friends went to community college first before trying to transfer into four year schools, with the thought that it would save them money. Well, it turns out, different schools offer different financial aid packages.

When I graduated from high school, these were my options:
1. Lorain County Community College offered me free tuition (because of my good grades. I had a 3.95 high school GPA) if I wanted a degree in "Urban Studies" (*gag*)
2. Toledo University (a state school. Typically people view these as being less expensive) offered me absolutely no tuition help and I would have had to pay $16,000 a year to go there.
3. Case Western Reserve University, an excellent engineering school that ranking-wise kicks Toledo's butt, but has a sticker price of $50,000 a year, offered me the vast majority of the tuition covered by scholarships and grants and loans. By everyone's estimates this school was supposed to be the most expensive, but after their financial aid package it ended up costing less than the state school. And the first semester I was there I took classes that weren't offered at the community college.

So don't just believe what people tell you, that community college costs less. LCCC does only cost $3,000 a year, but they don't offer any engineering courses, so that wasn't really an option for me. And my minor is Japanese. Do you know what kind of Japanese courses I'm taking at Case versus at Toledo or LCCC? Literally my teachers are from Japan, the course work is fast paced and you learn something new every day, and it's the best program I've ever encountered anywhere. They do exchanges with Japan every year with an engineering school in Tokyo, Waseda University. And it's awesome. And my engineering courses are of excellent quality. (They're hard!)

Anyway, my point is, choose what's best for you and don't let some of that talk you hear about community college being less expensive convince you to go there if you don't want to. I have some friends who went to community college, dropped out, and never made it to transferring to their dream school. Don't let that be you.


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That being said, you really gotta be nice to people, kid. There's no way you can get through life being an elitist. If you don't have friends right now, that's a big issue, and it means there's something wrong with how you're treating others. No one likes a know it all, kid. You gotta shut your mouth and stick it up and actually treat the people around you with respect. Do you think you can continue not having friends you whole life? No. You're going to have to be in a work environment with bosses, co-workers, and underlings, surrounded by people no matter what profession you're in. I know some of my fellow engineering majors are having a tough time of it now because they never learned how to be nice to people, so they're finding themselves up a creek without a paddle as far as job prospects and future career goes. You have to make friends with people in order to network. If people don't like you, if they think you're full of yourself or an elitist or just a sour personality, they won't hire you because no one wants to work with that guy.

Be nice to people. Not having friends at this point in your life is a giant red flag for sociopathy and other scary syndromes. Join a club or a sport, but do something and learn how to interact with people.

I'm not sure how I got into this conversation. But I'll continue it, even under the odd circumstances it has become. I have been out of school for all but this year and last semester. I have friends(few)but the reason is not that I am not a sociopath, I'm an extremely abnormal kid that doesn't get along with children because he was separate from them for most of his school life. I hate the students, all they care about is rap and what they think is the perpetual soap opera of middle school. I get along great with adults, horridly with children.

I find Moyle and Cech, Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology, to be a enjoyable textbook. It costs about a hundred bucks, but you can get it at a public library through interlibrary loan. I read it and look up the species on www.fishbase.org.

I disagree on community colleges, I found they are great for the general education courses, such as the basic sciences and math. Generally small class sizes and decent instructors. If it still is like when I went to one, you could take courses at the community college and count them for lots of units at high school.

I'm not sure how it works, but finding mentors would be a great way to get in to fisheries biology. Do stuff like team up with local NANFA members, if any, for collecting and keeping fish, or talk with university professors (some will shoot you down, but the good ones will work with you. The American Fisheries Society has a mentoring program). When I worked for the Federal Government, I had some teenagers that would occasionally volunteer for fisheries stuff.

Let me know if you have any questions.

shawn (haruspicate@yahoo.com)

Ahh - just read the rest of the posts. Germans are famed for their care of aquarium fish, it may be interesting to look into that when you are there. Have fun!

Edited by haruspicator, 14 November 2010 - 11:13 PM.