Areas to meet degreed young women in San Antonio? (Austin: to buy, school)

[Drew P]

Originally Posted by sgfthegreat

I'm a young woman with a degree and I wouldn't be in SA if that degree didn't leave me woefully unprepared for the job market and I hadn't come back to stay with my parents for a bit to regroup. I've got a great job now though so I'm sticking around for at least another year, I suppose, with the continuing hope that I'll be able to move to one of the company's other branches.

SA has a definite anti-intellectual culture so I can understand where you're coming from. Call me shallow, but if I decide to date again, I'd prefer a man with a educational background similar to my own. (In a perfect world, he'd also be a hottie and I bet if I created a thread called "Where all the hotties at?" I wouldn't get nearly as much as anger and condescension and many more helpful replies. :P)

Anyway, you could look into meetup.com. I've gone to some of the running groups there and met a few young ladies with degrees. The book clubs look promising as well (I'm also looking to meet women but for different reasons than you!), but I haven't tried them yet. OKCupid lists a person's educational background if you're looking to start dating, but I hear it's hard for men to get replies in general. Personally, I've been asked for my number a few times in bookstores which was flattering. Various bookstores have events as well. Garden Tea Lounge has an open mic night occasionally and that's run by a young lady with a degree.

If you have any free time, you can look into volunteering at somewhere or taking a fun community education class through the Alamo Colleges or an independent school district's community education program. (I took a really fun ceramics class through Northside! I also made a new cute female friend who happened to have a degree while taking a technical class at Northwest Vista at night.) No guarantee the women in these classes will be degreed, but there are some. If you're religious at all, you could look into the various churches.

I know it's hard to meet people in general.

Informative and on topic good response I have often wondered how the meetup.com events were.

[sgfthegreat]

The meetup.com groups have a real mix of ages and genders. For example, in the last tea enthusiast one I went to, the ages ranged from 21-80. The last running one I went to (R-U-N), we ranged from recent college grads to retirees. :P And I'll see completely different people from meeting to meeting in some of these groups, which is cool. I highly recommend it.

[Merovee]

Originally Posted by RJMorris82

Wait a second, now I'm confused, so listening to world music and liking to read books are criteria to make me intellectual? Wow, so happy to not be an intellectual. Have I read books for fun, yes, do I all the time, heck no. Do I like all music, well most music and I'm always willing to give it a shot, if I don't like it I don't like it (I love classical music, I can play several wind instruments too, to put things into perspective). However, if people don't listen to that music or read books for fun and you call them anti-intellectual, it says all I need to know about you. You would fit in with the New York or Northern California crowd quite well.

[Mod cut: off topic]

I love the cultured argument, I'm sure people think they are cultured and like to think they are, they are just blowing smoke up their own butts to make themselves feel better about themselves. People with low self-esteem often try to prop themselves up to be superior to anyone else, which seems to be the case with several people on this board.

The biggest problem I am reading is that someone on this board thinks it's bad to "cultivate their social skills to get along with anybody". I hate to break it to anyone who doesn't know this already, but that is one of the biggest assets you can have in this world, the ability to get a long with and talk about almost anything with anyone. Can I talk and engage in conversation with almost anyone, you bet, however that doesn't necessarily man that I hang out with them regularly. Right now, I really don't have more than 1 best friend in the area, and he lives up in San Marcos, however that is not San Antonio's fault, I am just picky who my friends are.

[Mod cut: off topic]

You are probably still confused because you still might not understand what anti-intellectualism truly is.

I offered a couple of anecdotes and not an exhaustive or definitive definition.

The examples I offered fit in Hofstadter's definition of, "“resentment and suspicion” toward the “critical, creative, and contemplative side of mind.”

Everyone has a, "critical, creative, and contemplative side of mind," and whether someone engages in anti-intellectualism depends on how much they allow that side of the mind to come to the fore in themselves and others.

It is not just those who are educators or with degrees that possess that part of the mind, we all have it but many choose to ignore it in themselves and others, it is when some become dismissive of this part of the mind in themselves and others that it rises to the level of anti-intellectualism.

With all that said it is odd that one would want to claim I am judgmental yet looking at the second phrase I embolded in the quote above tells me I am not the one who is being judgmental here. I know nothing about some select posters here except that perhaps they do not really understand this issue.

For all the views offered in this thread that judged the OP, well you obviously have no issues meeting others and sustaining quality and nurturing social relationships, unsure how much you can actually relate to this issue?

[Merovee]

Anyways have a good evening.

lol @ those championing San Antonio as an intellectual mecca where everyone is fascinating, cultured, and open to critical thought.

Spurs game and drinking do not make people have a level of anti-intellectualism rynetow.

Spurs games and drinking to the level some pursue them while ignoring everything else is simply the result and not the catalyst of anti-intellectualism.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Merovee

lol @ those championing San Antonio as an intellectual mecca where everyone is fascinating, cultured, and open to critical thought.

One would hope for some better reading comprehension.

Questioning the charge of "anti-intellectualism" is a far cry from stating San Antonio is a "mecca" of intellectualism.

That said, I'd say a significant proportion of people here are fascinating, whether or not they are intellectual.

Like-minded people find like-minded people.

Go Spurs! I want to once again celebrate on the streets of downtown. With a beer.

[Merovee]

Originally Posted by Chaka

One would hope for some better reading comprehension.

Questioning the charge of "anti-intellectualism" is a far cry from stating San Antonio is a "mecca" of intellectualism.

That said, I'd say a significant proportion of people here are fascinating, whether or not they are intellectual.

Like-minded people find like-minded people.

Go Spurs! I want to once again celebrate on the streets of downtown. With a beer.

OK fine! I will admit at being biased toward some Spurs fans after they threw an open beer can at me.

I still believe you are ignoring some truths that these distractions play a part in keeping our citizenry down. Alcohol and the Spurs are similar to the bread and circuses of Rome but nevermind I doubt you are open to having that type of discussion with me.

In either case I won't recommend the OP go to either Spurs games or drunken Downtown celebrations after a win to meet his preferred type and for the purposes of this thread that is what counts.

[rynetwo]

Originally Posted by Merovee

OK fine! I will admit at being biased toward some Spurs fans after they threw an open beer can at me.

I still believe you are ignoring some truths that these distractions play a part in keeping our citizenry down. Alcohol and the Spurs are similar to the bread and circuses of Rome but nevermind I doubt you are open to having that type of discussion with me.

In either case I won't recommend the OP go to either Spurs games or drunken Downtown celebrations after a win to meet his preferred type and for the purposes of this thread that is what counts.

Are you not the person always running around this board telling us not to group everyone into one category because of the actions of a few? ( or one)

[Merovee]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

Are you not the person always running around this board telling us not lop everyone into one category because of the actions of a few? ( or one)

Surprise! I am not above biases, no one is, which is why I thanked perti and acknowledged my bias to Chaka.

[RJMorris82]

Okay, I'm finally going to ask it, Merovee, please name 10 cities you feel are Intellectual, and I swear to god if you put Austin I will dismiss you as a crazy person.

[JuneOf48]

Originally Posted by Merovee

Anyways have a good evening.

lol @ those championing San Antonio as an intellectual mecca where everyone is fascinating, cultured, and open to critical thought.

Spurs game and drinking do not make people have a level of anti-intellectualism rynetow.

Spurs games and drinking to the level some pursue them while ignoring everything else is simply the result and not the catalyst of anti-intellectualism.

[Mod cut: off topic]

San Antonio is certainly no intellectual mecca. But, very few places are. I knew a whole bunch of folks in Chicago who felt that that city, too, had nothing to offer. For them, it was either NYC or nothing. To me, that was insane. I've met many people who complain that Austin is small, boring, and unstimulating.

[Mod cut: off topic]

That was one of the pieces of advice I gave to the OP: be friendly, and be prepared for pleasant surprises!

Best of luck to you on finding some good connections here in SA. You certainly seem to have tried pretty hard. Maybe change your routines and the places you frequent. Hopefully, it'll all pan out. All I know is that it's worked out for me, which means that it can work out for others. I hope this doesn't sound condescending, as I don't mean it to. (Far be it from me to tell someone how to live their life.) Just my two cents.