Their disposition to placing me in the 'unsocial' category is perhaps true (I haven't 'hanged-out' with a friend or similar for approximately a year) but I put education far, far ahead of friends and partying. This is, to me, something I see as the obvious thing to do when university/college is just around the corner. The greatest moment will come when I've finished my double degree in Aerospace/Law at University (at the ripe old age of 22, considering my current age) and all the other 'stuck-up' classmates I once knew are still struggling as blue-collar workers with no real talent to their name.
I would say that while socializing can many times have little value to your school work it isn't always bad for school. If you do get stuck on something friends can be called upon for help.
Also, when you are in college I suggest creating a network of friends because at a minimum they are important for future netwporking. I got started in eth company I work for now because I friend worked here and told me they had openings and were desperate, so my timely application combined with his reference had me get a job that I otherwise wouldn't have known was even available.
And then the fact that I know peoplw from college in other companies and can make suggsts and occasionally network to benefit my job makes me look even better. There is a reason why guys in fraternities manage to do decent in the business world. Networking plays a large roll in business. I have gone out of my way in my career to make sure I had good communication with all the managers in this company. Occasionally I get a call from someone I have only talked to via email but because I work at balancing work and social skills in my communications they call me up and say, "Hey, man can you take care of this for me?"
While in high school it definitely seems like a social life can detract from what is important it becomes a great benefit to have a balanced social and professional life later. And a social life in high school does benefit as a social skill building exercise because it is hard to build a social network if you never did it before.
So, while your parents will kill me for saying this: You should occasionally put the book down and go out with people every now and then. If nothing else think of it as a skill building exercise. Because I will be completely honest with you; I have so far used stuff I learned in classes less than five times in over four years, and that was usually in passing to just demonstrate that I did know it and dispell any doubts that I may not be well versed in the subject.
I am not saying that school is not important, because you do need some of the stuff you learn, but the biggest thing you will learn is not taught in any subject. You learn how to adapt, schedule, budget, and deal with situations that have far greater consequences outside of school if you screw them up. Part of this is how to balance life with school/work.
Update: Thanks to Myspace and other sources, I've learned that most of the undesirable people I knew of, and especially the antagonists, have had their college plans fall through the floor. Getting kicked out, alcoholism, failure, misery... karma at work: it is sweet.
Hehe, I am actually considering going to my high school reunion just to check out this current situation. I ran into a friend the other day who was going to engineering school when I last saw him nine years ago. He now owns and runs a gas station with his dad.
At teh same time I don't want to go to my reunion and see al teh peopel that called me a nerd. When I do run into them they act like we were best friends. I don't want to play that charade. I will manage to get along with the one friend I still talk to, and that is if he goes. Even if I feel I am doing better than everyone else I don't want to sit there bored to death.
It is an open bar though.......
