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beedubya - I have a very similar story to tell, but trust me when I tell you that Ft. Smith, AR is neither the poorest nor the most uneducated area of the country. I grew up in East Tennessee with family in Southern Mississippi and Southwestern Georgia, and I've spent a lot of time stomping around the South and the rest of the country. That said, the area where you grew up really has nothing or little to do with your success in life. It has a lot more to do with the opportunities you create for yourself. My father and his best friend growing up lived in Southern Mississippi and didn't have two nickles to rub together between the two of them. Today, they're both West Point graduates, and my dad just sold his very successful business and his friend is a successful author of fiction and a tenured professor. And the friend's little brother was a NASA engineer who now owns a consulting business. If you've got brains and a tiny bit of luck, you can go far as long as you recognize your opportunities.
My dad's business didn't take off until I was out of college, so I had to find my own way through school. I was the exception to the rule and had enough athletic talent to chose schools based on my own criteria, but several of my friends weren't as lucky. That said, you have multiple options open to you. First, you need to decide what you want to be doing in 5 and 10 years and then figure out how to get there. What are you going to school for? As a rising junior in college, I was sure that I was going to be a lawyer and angled for that for several years until I figured out that I'm really only interested in the intellectual portion of the law and that the world has more than enough law professors.
Once you've got that part figured out, figure out if your school is right for you. If you want to be a lawyer, and you're going to an A&M, then you may need to make a change. Let me remind you again that you're now an adult and can make your own decisions, and if going to NYU is what you decide needs doing, then do it. That said, you're now an adult so figuring out how to pay for it is also your responsibility.
If you decide that keeping things the way they are is the way to go, then find a way to make more friends. By the way, a "sports buddy" or a "drinking buddy" can be true, caring friends. They're friends that share a common interest.
As I and several others have suggested, try going out for a sport that doesn't make cuts. I suggest cross country or track, but that's because I'm partial to those. Swimming or ultimate frisbee are others. You don't have to actually compete, but showing up for practice is important. Two of my best friends from college were both on the XC team with me. One of them finished pretty close to me in every race, but the other one never finished 5th from last on the team. He was dead last in several races, but he was fun to be around and was a team captain. Showing up and doing the work like everyone else will win people over quickly, especially if you have a good heart. If you haven't seen it already, go watch the movie "Rudy" and take it's lessons to heart. Except for going to Notre Dame. I'll never tell you to do that.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
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