Last night I went to my friend's homecoming, she goes to a private christian school.
We live in a small suburb of Chicago, its highly populated being one of the most populated cities in Illinois.
I told them which public school I went to, and I got the feeling that I was secretly being judged for being a ghetto boy.
I go to a public school, which in all fairness I really do like. I enjoy the diversity, I enjoy the people, and the cultures. We have a very high latino population here, and in all honesty I quite enjoy it, and its not only because I have mexican descent.

More or less, at her school, it was 90% white kids, when I stepped into the school, I felt like I stepped into an entirely new reality. The other 10% were black and asians.
I felt out of place there, and I have no clue why.

Not to say I prefer latino people over any other, but when it comes to how I was raised, I always had a large difference of people. Mexican, white, african american, asian, middle eastern you name it. But being there last night made me feel like a complete alien.

Has anyone else felt this way?

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what is this I don't even

Can't say that I have, but then again I dont think I have ever been in a similar situation. I would imagine the feeling came from just being exposed to something new and being a little bit out of your comfort zone.

By the way, check your messages.

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I felt this way for the first few months of my freshman year in college.  I'm middle class and half-Mexican and was 17 at the time.  Everyone else was either a rich white 20 year old jock or an Asian with spikey hair playing pool or gambling over cards.
Needless to say, I didn't talk to many people and felt very out of place.  I felt like I was being stared at a lot.  But then when I relaxed, it seemed like everyone else around me did, too.  I made some friends and now I fit in fine.

I think it's more of a 6th sense type perception deal.  If you feel out of place, you also look out of place and you may get treated as such.  Or maybe it's just all in our heads.
Whatever the case, my advice to you is "Chill and the world will chill with you."

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Do me a favor. Click this every once in a while.

When we grow up in a specific area and without a specific type of people (not necessarily based on skin colour or nationality) we become comfortable, emotionally, with that group.
You felt out of place because you were out of your comfort zone. Simple as. You may be used to a wide variety of people, but that's irrelevant to the personalities, atmosphere, dress sense, accents etc of those people. If you felt like you were being judged, then perhaps you were. When you get a large group of one specific type they will tend to be suspicious of outsiders. They might not overtly say so, but that feeling will be there.
Perfectly normal, tribe mentality, evolution yaddyadaya.

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The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

My mommy told me the same thing as you Del.

But one thing I'm not getting, is if I'm 'comfortable' with a wide variety of people, why am I feeling uncomfortable with only a specific group of people?


Off to schoolD:

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what is this I don't even

Because the truth is, you're not really comfortable with a wide variety of people. The fact that you were uncomfortable in this specific group proves that. If you were purely capable of accepting and being accepted by everyone then this question wouldn't have even arisen.

Basically, in the public school you go to there must be a certain unified culture there. Sure it's made out of lots of little ones, and there might be conflicts and stuff, but it all works together as a sort of ecosystem. Mostly everyone probably feels like they belong, except for a minority.
If, for example, you went to a British public school there might be an equally diverse mix of pupils, but the general culture would be different. They would listen to different music, speak differently, wear different things, look at life differently. So you might feel uncomfortable there, despite the fact that it's still a wide variety of people.

And like I said, when you put one specific group of people together you do get problems, which is probably the answer you're looking for. They're getting better education than you (or think they are) their parents paid for it and everything. They probably do feel like they're better than you. If someone who's parents haven't paid for them to be there turns up, it might be considered an invasion of their turf.

But there's probably many other specific groups of people you can't feel comfortable with. White supremacists for example. Or groups obsessed with holocaust denial, or Obama haters, homophobes, women talking about menstrual cycles.

Etc.

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The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

To visualise what Del is saying, imagine if Screech Powers from Saved By The Bell - a show that features a perfectly balanced diversity of ethnicity in a school environment - were to turn up in the schools featured in Dangerous Minds or The Substitute. He'd be eaten alive. Literally killed and eaten, with his skin being tanned to make a gruesome keepsake to be left on Tom Beringer's desk. Granted, if it was AC Slater, he'd just kick ass and take names till the school belonged to him, but that's because he's the shizzle, beyaaatch.

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Personally I just think it's because you were at a party with people that you didn't know. Also, in my experience, kids that go to a private school have an inflated view of themselves. Believing that they are "better" than the average person(which you would belong to being in a public school, it is also like some people on this forum think ).

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^Another of those lolwut? moments...mainly on the Insane part...

First I want to say I've never moved in my life, switched schools, yada-yada.
Your insecurity can cause you to see trouble wherever you think you don't fit in. It's easier to just assume that you're safe. If people look like their emotions are running, try to think of them as overtly extroverted. 3 out of every 4 people in the US are extroverted, or in other words, outgoing. I myself am introverted, and it's harder for us introverts.


If there IS any opposition or cold reception, it's likely related to public/private school controversy.

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Everything in that general direction must die!
--Eddie Riggs

How usually does a private school kid view a public one?

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what is this I don't even

"I'm rich, you're poor, get off of the street I am walking on!"

Now granted I've only dealt with a couple of them, but they've ALWAYS come across as spoiled brats with that kind of attitude.

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^Another of those lolwut? moments...mainly on the Insane part...

But even then I didn't get off the 'I'm a street urchin, and I'm jealous of your loathesome existence' feeling towards them.
Cause uh, regardless how much money a person does or doesn't have, they're still human, and should be treated as such.

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what is this I don't even

I go to a historically black college as a white girl and came from a rural public school with not much diversity.
It has been a great experience for me but I do feel like I am being judged sometimes. "Lisa doesn't like hip hop" That kind of thing (when actually I love it and jazz and rap)

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I went to a public school, and I've had many friends who have went to a private school, and although you may think me the most charming, handsome and articulate person on this internet, I actually look incredibly rough, especially at the moment with my Karl Marx starters kit to facial hair.

However, that said, I've never had or felt any class based elitism directed towards me, or anyone I know, although some people are still stuck in the Victorian era, quite a lot of people are now decidedly more human than the stereotype alludes to them.

You probably felt weird in that group of people because they're a different type of people than you're used to socialising with. If you keep your chin up, and remember that every human being, no matter their background or ethnicity is equally as valuable and loved as any other, then you'll get on fine.

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I only wrote this because I hate you.

Oh c'mon you just read that on todays calender page, right?

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"I don't care if the audience watches my movies, long as my producer doesn't lose money."
-Jean-Luc Goddard

It was in my "Gentlemen's Guide to Consoling the Lower Classes" handbook.

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I only wrote this because I hate you.

LethargicMotivator:

It was in my "Gentlemen's Guide to Consoling the Lower Classes" handbook.

I belive, the apropreate term in this situation is, epic pwnedge. am i correct, or should i revise the statment. ...

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i honestly couldn't care less

before it starts again TAKE THAT SEARCH BAR AND SHOVE IT

George Bush hates black people.

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"If you can't make it , at least make it look ." - Bill Gates

icechild:

I belive, the apropreate term in this situation is, epic pwnedge. am i correct, or should i revise the statment. ...

Yes, you should.

i just re read it, i realy chould shouldent i. >.>

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i honestly couldn't care less

before it starts again TAKE THAT SEARCH BAR AND SHOVE IT

I know this question as been beat around the bush but why, after all the help and advice that has been offered to you, do you persist to use horrible grammar and even worse spelling. I just don't understand some people.

I just re-read it, I really should shouldn't I. >.>

There, that easy, I have terrible grammar and even I can see the mistakes there, do you have dyslexia or do you just avoid improvement out of pure arrogance or laziness.

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"IrishMorn"
If Adon and Sagat step in....ah, what the hell, I'll get drunk and join in on that one.

Sovvolf:

I know this question as been beat around the bush but why, after all the help and advice that has been offered to you, do you persist to use horrible grammar and even worse spelling. I just don't understand some people.

I just re-read it, I really should shouldn't I. >.>

There, that easy, I have terrible grammar and even I can see the mistakes there, do you have dyslexia or do you just avoid improvement out of pure arrogance or laziness.

PWNED!!!!

Internet memes aside...I agree.

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"If you can't make it , at least make it look ." - Bill Gates

Sovvolf:

There, that easy, I have terrible grammar and even I can see the mistakes there, do you have dyslexia or do you just avoid improvement out of pure arrogance or laziness.

Dyslexia explains an occasional misspelling. Not a flat out refusal to pay attention to typing.

Getting back on subject, my town now has a second night club called Club Hollywood that just opened up about a year ago.  The first time I went there, there were so many African American and Hispanics in there, that I felt WAY out of place.  There were fist fights throughout the whole night, a friend of mine at the time had a knife pulled on him, 50 year old men were hitting on 21 year old women, etc.  I felt uncomfortable and the place to me seemed like a gang bar.  It's not my world, so I'll never go back there again.  Now on the other hand, the other club we have called The Depot, seems so much more cleaner and more friendlier now that Club Hollywood has opened. 

So, I know how it goes about being out of place.  I'm not being prejudice in any way, I too have friends of all races.  It's just the way I felt that night that it seemed that everyone in there had a different life style than me.  And it's Norfolk freaking Nebraska!

Sovvolf:

I know this question as been beat around the bush but why, after all the help and advice that has been offered to you, do you persist to use horrible grammar and even worse spelling. I just don't understand some people. I just re-read it, I really should shouldn't I. >.> There, that easy, I have terrible grammar and even I can see the mistakes there, do you have dyslexia or do you just avoid improvement out of pure arrogance or laziness.

Now, as may be true, which I believe Icechild is dyslexic, it is an eyesore to read his posts.  Sure, if someone can speak English, know the alphabet, and can read, we often wonder why can't they spell there sentences correctly.  I mean, they can read, right?  Anyways, it's not going to help to keep nagging at him.  Just ignore his posts and move on.  Bitching about it isn't going to help.

Yep offering patience and advice also doesn't seem to have helped. I don't nag just to be a pain, I nag because I want to help. The posts he makes are so hard to read that it's hard to take them seriously and the mistakes he makes are just ridiculous given the amount of help and advice given. The whole "i is always a capital letter on its own" speech as been given that many that it can't be blamed on "I didn't know". I understand that he may find it difficult to spell the bigger words, so do I so I can't give him such a hard time about that, but it's the mere basics grammar mistakes that every one on this forum as helped him out at least once with that are getting to me. The refusal to improve despite the advice offered.

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"IrishMorn"
If Adon and Sagat step in....ah, what the hell, I'll get drunk and join in on that one.