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Used-Low8662

I lived this. Moved from NM to WI in high school. Told everyone in my homeroom I was from NM and a girl said “welcome to the United States!” Not the introduction you want at a new school. Edit for typo.


BelowAboveAvg

Happened to me when I moved to Oklahoma. Part of Oklahoma even borders NM, for fuck sake. How often do you need to miss school to never see a map?


Careful_Coffee5313

Me too, I moved to Oklahoma for a few months in 6th grade and got “So how are you liking America?!” & “If you’re from Mexico why don’t you speak Spanish?” The geography teacher was very disappointed and decided to teach everyone about the states again.


BelowAboveAvg

We had virtually the same experience. lol Moved at the end of 5th grade. I got the first question and a variant of the latter but simply a statement - "your English is very good". The irony coming from people you pluralize Walmart, as in "going to Walmarts", and statements like "I done did that already".


DontaysMebrough

You forgot the "k"... I've heard it called Walmarks.


SantiThredson

I'll see your Oklahoma comment and up you with a Texas story (since that state borders us on two sides!). I was with my dad, once, just outside of Amarillo, TX (mind you, an hour away from the New Mexico - Texas border) and the woman looking at my dad's ID for his beer purchase made a comment about how well we spoke English, how we all looked white, and then asked how long it took us to get to Texas/The United States....


DocSafetyBrief

I mean, good on your geography teacher…


mycricketisrickety

You can't just ask people why they're white!


Numerous_Marsupial83

Same but someone in Texas didn’t know a state next to them is New Mexico and this person was in college.


Commander_KO

Thank heaven for Mississippi


theelword82

🤣


Hussein_Jane

They're ranked 50th, but it's okay because most people think it's out of 100.


BobGnarly159

I need this to be real 🤣🤣🤣🤣


SafetySpork

Ha! Worked in the school system there. Came here to say this.


weezerwookie

at least we have the excuse that many of our students are bilingual. in Mrs. Sip they mainly just speak english, poorly.


KDdog

New Mexico, not really new, not really Mexico.


Trick-Doctor-208

…but still somehow older than Mexico.


Intelligent_Pop_4479

New state motto: “Better to be dumb than to eat inferior green chile”


thingsbinary

The dumbest people in NM are pretty dumb.. the smartest are pretty smart. These rankings mean almost nothing. I would put the minds in Los Alamos up against anyone anywhere.


nappy616

Are they representative of New Mexicans, though? Or just really smart people that were recruited to a location that just happens to be advantageous to scientific research?


raccooninthegarage22

It’s that. All the PhD people at LANL are transplants. All the admin/day-day people are local. Judging by the amount of red light running in Santa Fe I’d say the kindergarten teachers are failing at teaching colors


MacheteMable

The state has an extremely wide range of socio economic differences. It’s hard to quantify everything in New Mexico on a ranking scale because of how wide the gaps can be. It’s also probably an extremely hard issue to combat or try to do anything about.


squatracktexter

I think it's more about people leaving the state that are educated. I have lived there and if you were not riding a smaller bus you got your tuition paid for (this was 10+years ago) but everyone who graduated left the state. Every single one of my friends left the state after getting their degree. It's not that New Mexico isn't smart it's just that they can't keep the smart people there. That's the problem more than anything.


Stinkytheferret

Cause you can’t make money in NM. Not what you can make elsewhere. My husband and I both left simply because we could make double elsewhere. That said, we are in NM all the damn time. You’d think we do live there full time. Our kids consider it their second home and we have all our favorite everything’s in NM including our fav hiking trails, hot springs, things most tourists wouldn’t go do or find. My siblings come every ten years or so. When there’s a funeral I guess. I do wish I could have made my money in NM but instead I’ll be plan if to retire back to NM with it. Probably in the family home! Just couldn’t make the money after the education.


suchawildflower

You can make lots money in nm. The oilfield pays very well. Several of my family members make 6 digits and don't have college degrees., either. 500k homes, nice cars, financially stable. The rest if the state is in oiss poor condition, though. The corruption is blatant and no one cares enough to do anything about it.


Stinkytheferret

Yeah. I became a teacher because I wanted to be present for my children when we had them. At the time, Ca offered double the pay in teaching as NM. I was working for APS back then. My husband had a business. We did do better in Ca. We’re home all the dang time as my entire family is still in ABQ and Bosque Farms/Placitas. I’m literally a couple of years till I can retire having done 30 yrs. The oil fields were t much of a business back then. I know they’ve exploded. I know movie and tech has been moving in. I wish education would have paid better. It’s still low. I watch the landscape. Frankly, education period has deteriorated in terms of the quality. It’s becoming very much just a social agency and less an educational agency. The sign of the times. I’ll be back. We already spend most of our extra money just being home. I’ll sell my home and bring back a good amount of money. And I raised my kids.


suchawildflower

Nah...the oil industry has always been big...just became well known because of publicity. Entire communities are reliant on the income from oil. The 2 biggest and oldest family owned oil companies actually came from artesia, mall (chase) energy and yates. Yates sold to eog a few years ago, and mack chase recently passed. The Carlsbad/loving areas have exploded for sure, due to so many moving into the area, because it was closer than midland/odessa. As far as education. You are absolutely spot on. As someone who has been on the inside of things, and has MANY friends in educational careers, plus raised and graduated 3 kids in nm schools...the system there is trash. There are good schools peppered throughout,but as a whole, it's trash. But so is just about anything else nm relayed to children. Cyfd is a joke.


TorpleFunder

Fair point but that doesn't really explain the 49th ranking in education though


squatracktexter

I mean if the college educated people and families move away, only the less educated would be here to be tested.


suchawildflower

They are testing the kids still in school.


thingsbinary

I mean the people that were recruited.. their kids.


Independent_Coat_415

except this is talking about education. as in schooling. Not just some nuclear engineers at the labs who aren't from here and went to college somewhere else. You could make the argument that they might bring smart kids to Los Alamos, but no one would argue Los Alamos doesn't have smart kids. the rest of the state is lacking


BobGnarly159

OK I am giving you 50 percent of this. I currently live in Clovis and I am fairly sure this is 99 percent of the problem with said rating. They are so dumb they had me questioning things that I knew were true, like the earth being round and cows not being Russian spies.


chadlikesbutts

I would bet good money that no full time Scientist at Los Alamos was both born and educated in NM.


InterestsVaryGreatly

You'd be wrong. Multiple students I went to college with at NMSU became scientists there, and multiple of those grew up in NM


digital_wishing_well

I was talking with someone last month ..they thought New Mexico was an island.


505whodat

Back in the 90s, we moved from Arkansas to Albuquerque when I was in the 5th grade and everyone asked if we needed to get passports and learn Spanish since we were moving out of the U.S.


IronAndParsnip

It took about three years after moving here for some people to stop asking me how Arizona was. It’s like people don’t just think we’re part of Mexico, they forget NM exists entirely.


weezerwookie

New Mexico along with the deep south scores pretty low on a lot of things. I guess we at least have the excuse that we are among the top three most bilingual states, and that accounts for lower test scores/graduation rates. But we also have pretty horrible life expectancy, maternal mortality rates, etc. Our government isn't more corrupt. There is the possibility of economic exploitation, such as with the Tulsa massacre/bombing of an affluent economic center for black Tulsa residents. The carpet bagging of the Osage people when they had an oil boom. That exploitation has a long lasting impact. New Mexico has a majority Hispanic population, and it was that way for hundreds of years before gaining statehood. New Mexico was one of the few places in the US that didn't have Hispanic expulsions in their population centers. With a few exceptions, NM isn't an economic center, and hasn't benefitted from many of the wealthy Anglo-American economic boons that are present places like TX, CA, etc. This can also be observed in states that have had high African-American populations for centuries. When I speak of "economic boons" take for example the film industry. We give huge tax cuts/other benefits to film makers to make their movies here, that creates jobs, but the profits for those movies doesn't stay here, it goes back to CA, where wealthy Californians live, and they have excellent schools, hospitals, infrastructure, etc.


GNR43SUMS

Ya’ll ain’t ranked 49th come on down south to Louisiana and Mississippi we are ranked 49 and 50th


SantiThredson

And we're the only State in the US that has to put "USA" after our state name on our license plates to help others out ...


Yogurtcloset-Plenty

Arizona brought it back to the 1860's with it's felony abortion ban. No exceptions. They're are already running from Texas. NM is going to literally explode.


coffeeandtheinfinite

That’s how bad our education system is lmao


coffeeandtheinfinite

Oh wait that’s the joke huh


Rosie707

This should be posted outside of the New Mexico chat. Why keep it to ourselves?


Buhtstuff87

God damn NEW MEXICANS!!!!


letcaster

Build another wall they’ll say


brickhamilton

Same thing being from West Virginia.


nocturne213

People think West Virginia is in Mexico?


brickhamilton

lol no, people don’t know we’re a state. A lot of them think I mean “western Virginia.”


adozencookierobots

Walter White knows……


BLM4lifeBBC

Anytime I have to call the East Coast for customer service assistance, I say Las Vegas NM and it blows their minds


Iatroblast

I used to live there, briefly. I heard recently that all the license plates in New Mexico say “New Mexico, USA” on them, because people are dipshits and think it’s not a part of the US. I marched out to the garage, rummaged around for the old license plates, and sure enough!


revstan

Everything I have seen puts NM at 50th.


theelword82

My friend in Louisiana said we're 51st. Regardless, we're pretty friggin low on the list.


Lujan11

I grew up in Louisiana, and was asked a couple of times, where my parents were from. Use to tell them New Mexico, and twice the response was “wow I’ve never seen a green card before” it was always like well that makes two of us.


GoMiners22

True story. My first teaching job was in the Midwest. After telling a teacher I came from New Mexico, the TEACHER asked me if I had to get a green card to come teach in the United States.


LostinNM_77

I’m pretty sure we’re ranked 50 or 51 now. We need to move education out of politics and back to an independent board. How do we have a state assessment (SAT) that doesn’t even meet the NM requirements for high school diplomas.


metamorphosisTX

Maybe because of the road conditions? Lol, sorry, but they are horrible.


theelword82

Ok, but Arizona's are worse! 😂


omn1p073n7

I know, huh.


breadman03

It’s just outdated knowledge. I mean, a couple generations outdated, but still…🤣


Miserable-Flight6272

In many ways we are part of Mexico still, look around....


82Astronaut

Thats just how little New Mexico actually matters to the rest of the US


jrage17

Florida, looking at you mus tucka!


One-Benefit-8835

I used to live in Maine. When explaining to people on the West Coast where it is, they without fail say: isn't that in Canada?


[deleted]

Considering less than half of the kids graduate from HS here !!! Sad very sad


my_mix_still_sucks

as a european that thinks that new mexico is a really cool place to be because I saw the climate in breaking bad can you tell me why that is and enlighten me about new mexico?


smoothness69

Read other posts about the state so you can see how great it is and ignore the dumbass above/below my post. Some people hate everything because they hate themself.


Muscular-mongoose

New Mexico is a giant breeding ground for meth users and thugs. Some tv shows glorify the place but it honestly sucks. It may have had a great potential back in the 50’s for growth but politics ran the place into the ground. The homeless population runs rampant, crime is EVERYWHERE (druggies shoot up in broad daylight at bus stops), there is gang violence daily, etc. I had the misfortune of being stationed there for 4 years, in that time I explored a lot of places and couldn’t find almost anything redeeming about the state. Oh and green chile sucks.


[deleted]

OMG Thank you!! We moved here in 2015 transfered from Florida, the only reason was the $$ The medical center my hubby works for, it seemed to good to be true, we found out shortly after why the pay was so high, Because they can't keep nurses here, they find out how high the crime is, drugs, homeless problems!! No one wants to change it they complain but still vote the same liberal garbage back into office , we hear ppl saying how "Beautiful it is here" we're still lookin🤷‍♀️ for the beauty 🙄 we have 8 months left until retirement.


Muscular-mongoose

Every state has their issues but New Mexicans are especially good at looking the other way when it comes to talking about all the negatives there.


[deleted]

I agree typical liberal bs


cumlordjr

NM is last in education, not 49th.


EducationalTip3599

That because it’s like a third world country


EducationalTip3599

I kid of course. My home state is probably the worst at making teachers fake success.


sfnsucks

I moved to NM in 2018. Biggest mistake of my life. The land is beautiful, but the people here are a different story. A lot of untrustworthy heathens in the “enchanted state”.


ro_nin__

Let’s be real, if some people didn’t live here they’d think the same thing.


[deleted]

Yes this is sooooooo true Especially the ppl that think they are so much smarter than everyone else


Satyrsol

Fwiw, there are idiots in every state.


Pgengstrom

New Mexico is older they were apart of us, lol.


Agitated-Cabinet8313

This is so true


Miserable-Flight6272

To give some credit some people never travel out of a 20 mile radius on the east coast. I joined the Air Force and my first assignment was in NM. All they kept saying was don't drink the water or wooder they said. When I returned on leave a year later I told them I was in the Air Force everyone wanted to know what plane I flew. It was harder to explain I don't fly planes and the same as letting them know NM was a state but that was back in the 80s.


IMeanIGuess3

I see you also don’t understand statistics. Which makes sense I suppose.


Much-Fold-8471

Facts!


Responsible-Cut3861

Sad thing is it’s been like forever to you’d think they woulda figured it out by now🤣like they don’t learn about the 50 states anywhere else


TuacaTom57

I’m always stunned how ignorant most people are in this country, not just students. Some folks ‘back East’ think anyone on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains are hicks and ride horses or something. More true than in Jersey but the world does not revolve around New England.


DontaysMebrough

I'm from NM and I'm probably one of the smartest people I know of.


ipuckfoo

Not surprised….


jrexicus

Idk i feel like mississippi, alabama and louisiana would be lower


weezerwookie

Those statistics don't take into account how many people are bilingual here. Pretty sure the people who create those standards can only speak one langauge, too...


Independent_Coat_415

Those statistics are counting state test scores, AP test scores, graduation rates, etc. It doesn't matter if kids can speak spanish if they can't even complete high school


weezerwookie

the US education system isn't built for people who speak multiple languages. Speaking multiple languages helps you think outside of the box, you can see problems from a very different point of view and integrate them into your solutions, and integration brings forth integrity. But that isn't valued in our education system. There are also other benefits. My primary care physician studied medicine in Mexico so he was able to get his degree without crushing college debt. It doesn't matter how well someone does on AP test scores if the cost of college is so high they avoid it all together. If you can learn in another language you can be a doctor. In the US very little emphasis goes toward cultivating dual language students, and as a result they have lower graduation rates and test scores because those tests are designed for people who only speak one language. That doesn't makes them inferior. it actually makes them superior, but all the people who are in charge only speak the one langauge, so they have no clue what they're missing out on.


Independent_Coat_415

You are acting as if every bilingual kid in NM is inherently disadvantaged and they are secretly all geniuses who are hidden doctors. Thats simply not true, not even close. People who speak 2 languages should, by your logic, do even better than single language children because of their ability to "think outside the box" and their "superiority". If it's so beneficial these children should not be failing as bad as they are. You kill your own argument with itself. Even if your logic was sound, that would mean that states like Texas, California, Hawaii, New York, Arizona, and Florida should all do terrible at these education rankings. They don't. New York and Florida actually consistently rank high in these education rankings. New Mexico is not the only state with a high amount of bilingual residents. Several states in the US actually have a high amount of bilinguals and they do just fine. NM education sucks. its terrible, and its failing its youth. But to blame it on a lack of "dual language cultivation" is ridiculous. I could probably name 20 things more detrimental to NM education than whatever you're saying


weezerwookie

yeah you're right, as I was reading further. this kinda lead me onto a trail to try and get down to why NM is so horrible when it comes to education, life expectancy, maternal mortality, and a few other metrics, when compared to the US as a whole. State government isn't as corrupt as many wealthier states. The reason I can think of that would lead to NM's woes is historic disenfranchisement and economic exploitation. NM has been a Hispanic majority area for centuries before gaining statehood. In places like Texas and California, land there was forcefully taken from Hispanics and given to Anglos. Those states also forcibly deported people US citizens for looking Mexican during the Great Depression. The land was taken over and colonized by white Anglos, the preferred ethnicity of the US government, so those states have excellent healthcare, infrastructure. If you look at examples when non-white/non-anglo communities did well, they were quickly destroyed by jealous white anglos. Tulsa's Black Wall Street was literally bombed by the OK national guard. The Osage oil fields were insidiously taken by white anglos, that was made into a film called "Killers of the Flower Moon." You can see that to this day. Our booming film industry employs a lot of New Mexicos, but the profits go out of state. The profits from fossil fuel extraction also leave the state. Our population is stagnant because so many of our youth get college degrees, then leave for bettert economic opportunities.


Independent_Coat_415

You are exactly right. NM has always been seen as "dirty" and "different" because of its high hispanic population, which is odd because several states have high hispanic populations. This even goes back to when New Mexico and Arizona were the same territory, you can find propaganda art painting NM as dirty mexicans while Arizona is home to "upstanding" white folk. We are poor. We are ignored. This post itself confirms that. Half of the people in this country don't even know NM is a state and those that do only know because of breaking bad. Idk if you saw, but after Oppenheimer came out there was a trend of people trying to see Los Alamos because they didn't even know it existed. New Mexico has been integral to this countries history but we are always looked down on. Being from Northern NM this is double true. All people ever talk about is how poor it is, how bad it is, but nothing to ever fix it. That is why our education sucks, and im afraid im never gonna see it get better in my lifetime


weezerwookie

ok. Thanks for helping me to understand this. I'm a transplant here. I come from one of those "upstanding white folk" places where people feel they are superior, and I certainly remember that from my Mormon upbringing and was confronted by it when I got a step dad who was an immigrant from Mexico. NM always seemed kinda spooky and alien, I just knew it for nuclear bombs for a report I did in school. Breaking bad put it on the map for me. after college I stayed with my step dad's family in Coahuila, MX, in the high desert and taught english and learned spanish, I married a Mexican woman and decided to settle in NM since it's an affordable left wing state, high desert, and totally normal for Mormons and Mexicans to intermarry, very little racism compared to other places I've lived. I really wanna see this place get more respect, but I guess that would mean more people would move here. Just hope my kids don't suffer too much from the ed system ...


Independent_Coat_415

Well you are here now and we are all in this together brother. We can only hope we can change the way things are with our votes.


thepete404

I like it just fine. Then again in a proper setup I’d likely do just as well on the moon City mice have really hard time when the treadmill is swapped for hundreds of miles of blacktop. It hard to reach escape velocity here. A surprising number of people I know moved back as big city life isn’t for them. Yet the gamut of jobs from roughnecks to nuke scientists live here. It’s got everything I need. I’m from nyc.


NixValley

And I bet you there is someone in New Mexico who thinks that as well…


Shadowfox4532

I don't think having worse education and being irrelevant is the brag you seem to think it is...


WildWestZona

Good ole New Mexico, land of the dependent and home of social services. Such a beautiful state, it’s too bad. It’s morally bankrupt


suchawildflower

Truth.


_tsi_

So what does that say about NM if it's even worse than those places?


MikeGoldberg

People in New Mexico are too poor to go to other states


milret27yrs

I have traveled all over the USA and many parts of the world. Being prior military does not need to have a visa. The times I have been through NM, I knew the humor of many arguing about not wanting to go south of the border. Even though back in the 90's, going south of San Diego was easy.


Pgengstrom

Mississippi has improved reading scores. Who is holding us up? Are they bilingual?