IS_NIICE

iTrader: (1)

that is pretty ridiculous. as of right now i have been debating really crazy whether or not i should get rid of my car for an e60 m5...i think the reasoning behind it honestly is that i am not paying for my car-so i cant truly appreciate it like others who worked hard to buy it. whenever i come to this conclusion, i think, whatever, ill keep my car, im so lucky to have it. then i see an M5 rollin...process repeats itself. it's pretty sad to think that im driving a car that most people in their life time could never afford, and i take it for granted at times. even though i say the IS is common among teens , the area i was raised just has this SHOWOFF mentality. my high school was very materialistic. and you don't really realize that when you go there, but it was a popularity contest. who had the most things, who was the richest, that's it. everything about it was superficial. everything is competition, and realistically it's just dumb. the real world hit me after i graduated. when i started college this year i went into the parking lot (community college away from home) and me and my friends from HS have the most expensive cars. and since it's community college, there's parents attending the school who also drive inexpensive cars...REALITY CHECK! at the end of the day, i have more respect for someone who worked their *** off to buy a basic transport car than a kid like me who was fed with a golden spoon. ridiculous eh?

asianrock

Well do you expect me living at a 5.7 million dollar home to drive a corolla/civic or something around? -.-" I could have asked for much better (porsche 911, M5, ect.) and they still could have paid it in whole but rather not... I know my parents went through a difficult time before getting their college degree and their masters/PHD so I am appreciative that I have a comfortable life in respect to their hard earned fortune.

iKenn

iTrader: (1)

Im still going to be 17 when i get my IS350 next week. Everyone at school thinks im the richest person there... I dont bragg or anything but i mean i let people think what they want to think. I also got my own parking spot in front of the school, like the teachers and other students know not to park there because its my spot. I go to a small private school and i think im the only student who drives. :/

iameric

ron your high school sounds a lot like mine, there was 1800 kids at my school (we're only 11 & 12 grade), and just about everyone had either an audi, bmw, merc, lexus. everything was always a competition whether it was clothes, cars, number of houses, boats, or whatever. kids would total their lexus and before the weekend was over they'd have a new bmw. i never really appreciated everything as much as i should have until i left for college and left the bubble I grew up in. you quickly realize how ridiculous everything was in high school, i mean i went through five cars in high school, my friends drove M3, STIs, EVOs, corvettes, and other higher end vehicles and i never even thought of it, all that was all just the norm in west plano.
come to realize in college there's a lot of decent hard working kids that are working their own way through college without any financial help from their parents, they have to take out student loans, are in lots of debt, need federal funding, and wouldn't even waste their time worrying about what kind of car they drive... when i first got to college it was a real eye opener seeing "the actual world" and not being in the suburban bubble I was used to. And now i appreciate everything so much more then I used to, and not just my nice car, or my nice computer or anything like that, but the education I'm getting here at Texas Tech. Since I started college last year I'm now financially independent from my family, I have a very well-paying job and can support myself completely. And hopefully I can take advantage of the time I have at Texas Tech so I can get the most out of life and be happy and as financially well of as i'd like to be, without having to use my family's wealth and inheritance. I'm honestly glad I didn't go to SMU as planned, since I would've just moved from one bubble to another that's just 20 minutes away, and would've been even more financially dependent on my family then I was in high-school, since the lifestyle there is pretty ritzy (version 2.0 of my highschool) and just like my old high school you need to have a lot of money to fit in or to be a "somebody."
ron obviously you already seemed to realize how lucky you are. And hopefully you can learn to make the best of your given situation and not just take advantage of your parents financial well being. Taking school seriously to help you out later is the most important thing you can do, learning how to do something you like and that you're good at, that way you can one day do it on your own and for yourself. Obviously when your family has a lot of money to throw around you can easily use it to help invest in business ideas or other investments to help you make money. And there's nothing like having the financial backings from your parents, they're a lot nicer and will be more helpful then any bank.
oh and sorry for the long post i know i got a bit carried away.

jason_v2

iameric, i come from a similar kinda town where people literally call the entire place a "bubble" of sorts. coming to college really was an eye opener for me, too.

last summer i actually went on an alternative break trip to san diego / tijuana to study US-Mexico border issues. we ventured into tijuana for a day and quickly figured out why so many people want to get into the US. in baja california, our group met up with some migrant workers that picked strawberries for a local farm. some of these workers sleep in plastic/rubber sheets on a side of a hill with only sage bushes to protect them from the elements. after hearing some of their struggles and learning about what they put up with on a day to day basis, i really started evaluating my own lifestyle and appreciating the luxuries that id started to take for granted.

now i really encourage my peers to participate in some kind of community service during the school year in hopes that more people will realize just how many things some of us take for granted.

anyways, just thought i'd share one of my more "eye-opening" experiences with the rest of u guys

IS_NIICE

iTrader: (1)

haha ive heard AWFUL things about SMU, even here in california... but yes, preach!

IS_NIICE

iTrader: (1)

weird. i felt bad when the teachers saw the cars that the kids drove.

IS_NIICE

iTrader: (1)

oh and don't forget! community service is the secret of getting into college

IS_NIICE

iTrader: (1)

i think all you were trying to say was, my house is 5.7 million dollars, and i get anything i want.

correct me if i'm wrong.

Calviin

iTrader: (3)

Iameric you went to plano west? I'm currently at plano east. I'm 17 and I do not show off my car, my parents bought it for me, but that's the only thing they got for, so i'm not spoiled. And I hate the fact that at east, they always call you rich or whatever and **** up your car, because last year i had an rsx-s which people totally ****ed up, and now that i have this slow car they still talkin'.

iKenn

iTrader: (1)

yeah especially the teachers who dont have you for a class, so they like stare at you.

iv, been to plano. haha i go to school in Duncanville, right next to Duncanville highschool(2nd largest highschool in America) No one messes with my car, because i park right where everyone can see it, even in class so if something happens someones bound to see it.

iameric

lol yeah ron i agree, but i think we all have friends like him, the ones who overexagerate everything and always a little too much, claim to be able to have anything but always have an excuse; but hey atleast you're able to call them out... my other roommate is like that, i mean his parents are rather wealthy
(his casa)


and he claims that his parents will give him as much money as they want (which made him seem like a real dbag since at the time i was buying all the draaank we we were consuming), and he always talked about how he was getting an M3 because the Mazda Speed6 he bought was too slow, then the date comes around when he's suppose to get his car and what do you know he has some great excuse.

but yeah anyways Calviin I went to Plano West I graduated just two years ago and I have to say I love the hell out of that school, the people are ok, but atleast there's a lot of different people so you can always find your clique. And im sure you're aware thats all that school is divided into is a bunch of cliques, just like every other school. I did enjoy the off campus lunch, when I was a junior it lasted for an hour and half so we could literally go to restaurants for lunch, then they shortened to like an hour or something which I think it is now. I'm surprised cars are getting messed up there though, that only happened a few times in the years that I went there and its was usually people from Plano West that were doing it. and im sure if any car were to get messed up i thought mine would be one of them (since i was such a ricer) but nothing ever happened.
and Leotno i've been to duncanville, I had debate tournaments there I believe, its a pretty nice school. I didn't know you had the 2nd largest school population in the US, Plano Senior has like 3,000 kids and its only 2 grades.

asianrock

but thing with me I also own a bmw Z4 M =) father bought it for me without my mother's input... but as mothers are they are all about safety and such and think I will die in it if i crash it since its so small so I will just it for weekends and such ... my 4 other sibblings own more extravagant cars.

IAMJAVEDG

iTrader: (5)

drove my first at 14 (dads LS) .. owned my first Lexus at 18 after my RSX-S

olddog

iTrader: (2)

-19yrs old- bought my first car(1988 Honda Accord).The Honda accord , i swear, must have had about 1million km on it.But i was a proud owner.
-20yrs old- Sold Accord and Migrated to Canada to start university for another degree and after experiencing a cold winter one night (which, all through my summer vacations overseas in my earlier years i never experieneced), i quickly got me a 1995 Nissan Altima.(had 255,000km on it but like i do with all the stuff i pay for myself; i loved it to death). And vowed NEVER to take the bus again in Toronto. At least not in the winter time
-21yrs old- started investing (and it paid off) so i sold the altima,got me a condo and a 94 GS300. Damn it felt great owning a Lex and owning my own pad. All this in 2nd/3rd year of univesity and 3yrs in Canada.
-22yrs old- you never really enjoy luxury unless you own it. I was really impressed with the bodystyle of the 98-05 GS and once i found the red 98 GS300 in my sig, i emptied (literally speaking) the bank account and jumped on it.
Present( Now 24yrs old), finished my 2nd degree in university this year and am still loving the car so much even after 1.5yrs of ownership. But am now thirsting for that BRAND NEW car smell now Too bad it cannot be afforded right now. Got a Masters degree to save up for and a house to close on next year.
well, thats my story.......