Urban Dictionary: what claims to be an internet dictionary for the people, by the people. At one point, I am sure, it was a great source of colloquial information on topics that may or may not be in an official dictionary, great for things like what your name means or what a "rave" is.
However, since its inception, the fact that almost anyone can post a definition has been a great deficit to the integrity of the information presented on the site. But, lets face it: just because the definitions are not what one might call "accurate" does not mean that they are wrong. For example, here is Urban Dictionary's definition of "Urban Dictionary:"
"A place formerly used to find out about slang, and now a place that teens with no life use as a burn book to whine about celebrities, their friends, etc., let out their sexual frustrations, show off their racist/sexist/homophobic/anti-(insert religion here) opinions, troll, and babble about things they know nothing about."
And with its own definition being the paradigm example of the website, I think we can all say we understand the seriousness of UrbanDictionary.com. With that being said, please take the following definition of Northwestern University's student body with a grain of salt, but lets just remember that there is a little truth behind every joke — even when it is about you.
The Northwestern University student body:
"The student body is divided among three social strata. First, fraternity and sorority members that are for some reason much more popular at NU than they ever hoped to be in high school, and eager to flaunt their newfound social superiority. Second, McCormick try-hards that will never touch a drop of alcohol in their college career despite achieving lower GPAs than perpetually-wasted Comm majors. Third (and most prominently), the great unwashed mass of students who do the bare minimum classwork necessary, get drunk on weekends and wonder why they aren't hooking up with anyone without ever actually attempting a kiss."
Now, the beautiful and badass shout-out to Communications majors aside, I would say that this is a terrible representation of the student body at Northwestern University.
Except that it is completely and totally true. Let's break it down:
Our three strata:
1. Greek life: As much as all of us at Northwestern would love to pretend that we are "so frat" and would be a "frat star" at University of Arizona, we all got in here for a reason. I don't care how cool you were in high school, we are all nerds at heart. But we are the coolest nerds, right?
2. Engineers: Of course you go out, of course you party. And we all know you are smarter than us and are just taking classes that are ridiculously hard and honestly if you get all A's this article is either far too right about you or you are the next Steve Jobs (call me). But let's face it: Comm majors have more fun. And we graciously hope you remember that when you are our boss one day.
3. Everyone else: Literally make a move already. (You're a cool nerd, remember!)
So, there you have it. If Yik Yak is any reliable indicator, we do all wonder why we are not hooking up. And then you realize it's because you're on Yik Yak and not out doing normal things: studying or partying. Because, honestly, if I know anything, it is that 1. Northwestern operates on the extremes, we work too hard, and then we (think we) play too hard. And 2. sometimes you should believe what you read on the internet.
