Thanks for the reply! I may not have made it clear, but even though I've taken two years of college level math, this was in no way challenging to me since I taught myself those subjects 9 - 10 years ago. As a result of my early efforts I'm well ahead of the curriculum imposed by my parents, making it far more difficult to find intellectual peers in any one topic of interest. I have been very lenient in my consideration of the possibilities, it's just been highly improbable to find anyone with at least one common interest.
The college I'll be attending is relatively weak compared to my current academic ability. I plan to address this by getting permission to start with advanced undergraduate math (skipping the introductory proofs course for placement purposes) and introductory graduate physics courses (which would merely be advanced undergraduate level at most top programs).
Clubs are practically non-existent at the college due to the lack of motivation of most students there; the few that exist only cater to URMs/women in STEM movements. I will be part of the honors program there and as a result will be taking different general ed courses. I appreciate the important skill of teaching other students about challenging subjects; I just wish I could really push myself intellectually and realize that in many ways my classes are holding me back in that regard.
No faculty member does research in any of my main topics of interest, however there are a few who study subjects tangentially related to my work, in the sense that there are minor details in my published physics research that could be better understood with greater general knowledge of the related mathematics.
I expect to have a rough semester soon when I can no longer rely on instantaneous learning and must gain study skills. Hopefully at the end of next year I'll be feeling better about all this; I'm just finding it hard right now to stay optimistic.
