Halo

Off Topic

You'll find a vast variety of personalities in either section. The "rivalry" really stems, near as I can tell, from Spam pretty much encapsulating the entire "giving a fuck is bad brah" attitude and thus views the sheer effort and occasional shitstorms rising from differences in opinion in Off-Topic as being way too over-the-top-serious. Meanwhile, those in Off-Topic (who, generally, tend to think of themselves as intellectuals) find that attitude immature and beneath both them and their serious conversation.

That's talking in gross generalisations, though. If you feel like a genuine debate or discussion about a serious topic, with the kinds of considered responses that are rare in most communities on the net, go to Off-Topic. For general lulzies, Spam is a better bet (though seemingly not by much, these days.) Just don't cross the two, and you should be able to find something worthwhile in both places.

Sub Woes

Guys, to be fair, all the OP has done is vent frustration. Yeah, it's a fact of life that you have to deal with authority figures you'd rather not, but that doesn't mean you can't dislike it or have a bitch about it because it sucks. And that's all the OP has done. >_>
Agree with Dervish's point on empathy, though. Had an interesting chat with my teacher about the sorts of scary crap teachers have to deal with at times; not always the cushiest job, to say the least, and being a sub only makes it worse.

College

Foxxie said
I know you likely hear this a lot, but teachers suck and high school can range from being an overall neutral pain in the ass to an absolute nightmare. I had two teachers, one in my freshman year and one when I was a senior, who were dead set on sinking my GPA. That first teacher succeeded in basically getting me kicked out of my first high school, but that's hardly important. I ended up doing alright in terms of getting into college and Edinburgh is a fantastic school, so don't fret over that. I know you'll make the best out of wherever you end up because you seem like the sort.I'll keep you posted on those essays of mine. I'm only a first year, so I'm not too sure they'll be winning much of anything, but I still feel honored to have them nominated in the first place. I chose English because it turns out I really do suck at all sciences except Chem and Orgo, and there's no way I want to devote my life to chemistry. I enjoy writing papers and reading too far into all manner of literature, so it seems like a good choice. It's not the most profitable major out there, but I figure a nice minor to go along with it would set me on the right track for the future. After all, my college has a fairly respectable English Department, so it just seemed like the best choice for me.

Yeah, I know quite a few people who've had a similar experience and came out of it okay. It's not the end of the world, its just... very frustrating. The kind of workload I've taken on this year is virtually unheard of, even in my statistics-conscious top-of-the-charts secondary school. I've freaking slaved over this stuff. I worked for 21 goddamn hours straight the other day. Ive volunteered around the school, and represented them at maths and debating competitions - hell, I won second best individual debater in Scotland and Northern Ireland in the middle of my mock exams. And if it seems I'm boasting, its because I sorta am - or at least, I wanna feel some pride before realising it was all effing pointless. It's all coming to nothing - I may as well just not have bothered, because the only universities asking for me to have done eff-all this year have now been closed off by this guy's total fucking cuntasticness. More than having devastating consequences for my future or anything, its just the frustration and bitterness that's getting to me. Disillusioned doesn't even begin to cover it. Anyway, this is just me bitching and venting, I know I'll be fine in the end. I'm actually considering not going to uni this year, and going to 'college' (different thing here; I think the American equivalent would be like 2-year community colleges) to do a few things that I always wished I'd had time to do but just couldn't fit in my schedule - try to use this as a thing freeing me of the sense of obligation to go to uni immediately. We'll see. Meh.

You never know - you might be bringing a fresh air. The potential exists for people who've all been in the same classes for years, studying the same things with the same professors, to end up all producing similarish things. It's happened this year in my English class - the change in our styles throughout the year has been noticeably convergent thanks to our teacher commenting on/editing/influencing our work with her own preferences and such. As a first year, you might just be different; they're clearly already impressed with the standard of your work, beyond that of many of your older and more experienced peers.
Certainly makes sense; if what you like and what you're proficient at line up, may as well go for it. What are you studying, may I ask, literature-wise? I always find it interesting to see what different unis/curriculums end up studying - if it's all the same stuff, as in some ways you'd expect (everyone studies Shakespeare, for example), or whether everyone studies different things.

College

In high school; watching my life disintegrate as my teacher fails me on a technicality (hes, uh, sorta got a grudge against me, long story) and stops me going to the insanely amazing uni I got a conditional offer for (Imperial College London). Yay. On the other hand, I have an unconditional offer to Edinburgh uni, which is... like... 17fh in the world this year, or something, so... #gettingsomefuckingperspective
Also, anxiety attacks over the aforementioned clusterfuck keeping me up at night, yay... I'm starting to get pretty exhausted, haha. /venting

Congratulations on your essays; hope you win! Let us know. Why'd you end up picking English?

Is it possble to be a computer racist?

You can be discriminatory or prejudiced in some sense towards certain models or brands, yes - you can loathe Macs for no reason, and refuse to buy Macs, and not talk to people who have Macs, etc. But you can't be racist because, well, computers aren't a race.

Better question: if you do the above discriminatory actions towards a race (s in the track/athletics event) of a certain type, are you being racist?

Remember the old Spam Confessions bullshit?

ImANargleHunter said
I am so impressed by the maturity in this thread.

"he's got a massive cock"

EDIT: Maturity is somewhat overrated.

Going on my 17th hour working on coursework straight...

Lady Squee said
You need more than that. I think I read somewhere that for every hour studying, you need a 15-30 minute break.And I understand procrastination. I do it all the time. But breaks help or you'll just kill yourself. It's not worth dying of a brain aneurysm.

Unfortunately, time constraints mean I do not have anything like that luxury. It's gone 6am and I'm still working, though at a much slower pace, admittedly, and occasionally peeking in here.

Drakel said
I don't remember how many hours I'e stayed up last week to do my work... I think it was 3 nights and 4 days up before I finally got to sleep last night. I feel you.

Did you get through it all?

Going on my 17th hour working on coursework straight...

CidTheKid said
Organic Neural Processors are not good for extended periods of processing-intensive tasks, and require regular periods of downtime to prevent deterioration of the internal connections and maintain full processing potential, or failing that, proper supply of chemical stimulants.Should you not comply with these standards, warranty on your MK1 Human Being will be considered void, and you will not be entitled for a refund should your MK1 Human Being become unusable due to a corrupt memory system.We wish you the best of luck, and happy computing~~

Does not compute.

mbl said
When you say you've been doing homework for more time time straight than I generally spend awake in a day, I assume you're fibbing, failing, or pushing yourself way too hard.

Or I left all of my coursework until the last minute. >_> try doing a year's worth of work in a day, see how long it takes you.

Going on my 17th hour working on coursework straight...

Only breaks I've had are to make tea and 5 mins to have dinner... my brain...

My Llama Escaped

BrobyDDark said
*theirSomeone better check their homonyms.

Someone better check their Nexitude.