The underdog spirit?

Over the weekend, met some people who reminded me of people from Stephens. I think I didn't like my undergrad experience because Stephens is like the 'Harvard' of India - or at least people there think they are. I think it was probably a good school - had better facilities and much better campus than most liberal arts colleges in India but I definitely don't think it meant that every single subject and professor there was better than in any other college. And I definitely didn't think that every single student was better than every other student in every other college. Sure, we needed high marks to get in but I hated (I know - strong word) people who thought that just because they were in Stephens it meant that they were cooler than everybody else. (Being judgmental here but) I think its kind of shallow to let the college you went to define who you are and your self esteem is tied to that. 

Anyway, some people I met over the weekend made me think about Stephens. And it made me glad that I didn't go to any other school. Maybe in undergrad here, people might feel the "we're better than everyone else thing" but in grad school its pretty different and people are more down to earth I feel. And the underdog spirit is what motivates me most at academic competitions with people from other schools. I usually honestly feel that I don't mind losing to a lower ranked school or anything but want to beat people who think they are better than everyone else. 

I keep wondering about why it is that I identify with the underdog spirit. The vast majority of the close friends I have or people I am fond of are people who have at some point felt like they couldn't connect with a larger group or people who felt they were different or left out or something. Even when I watch movies, I usually identify with the geeky or 'nerdy' guy who doesn't have friends or 'The Station Agent' or something and nowadays as soon as one of those guys come on, B will be like - no - you're not like that guy. And its true - I've always had friends, I grew up pretty much in a fair amount of luxury and went to a 'snob' school - was 'popular' enough and went to a super snob college and so on. I've never really been like any of the people in the movies or anything. 

I don't know whether I always felt this way or whether it was just a reaction to Stephens and stuff. I remember traveling several times unreserved on the trains and also all the time I've spent in slums and stuff - and identifying more with people there than in college. Maybe I'm just a reverse snob or something..