Dartmouth's social scene is one of a kind: pong, flair and blitz are unheard of outside our bubble, and the exclusivity of our social traditions often borders on vanity.
To friends back home, a lot of our social conventions seem foreign. It's often hard to explain why we call ourselves '12s, why we go out to frats wearing neon spandex or why we're all at school right now.
We do all these weird things and talk about them, but with good reason we are proud of Dartmouth's idiosyncrasies. But does that mean we're collectively vain?
Not really although we probably seem annoying to people outside of the College. But we're proud of Dartmouth because we're different, not because we think that the way we do things is inherently better.
If vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities, we're pleading not guilty. Why people dress in flair here is up for debate, but it clearly isn't to make us look sweet to our peers at other schools.
However, Dartmouth culture does encourage us to be vain about our image and social status. Our bodies are fit, we linger in certain spots just to be seen by others who are considered cool and we often base our hookups and friendships on the social hierarchy defined by the Greek system and athletic teams.
Needless to say, the Greek system dominates the social scene at Dartmouth. An unstated consensus that some fraternities and sororities are superior to others often determines where people will party, hang out and hook up.
When you hear guys using introductions like, "Hi, I'm a Heorot," it's easy to see how our social scene is unique. At Dartmouth, names and other important facts often fall by the wayside in favor of Greek affiliations. Someone you spend hours flirting with on Friday night can be pegged as "that cute GDX boy" or that "fun KDE girl." It's not uncommon to hear something along the lines of: "I forgot his name, but I think he's a Psi U."
Membership on a varsity sports team works the same way, as they are often synonymous with Greek affiliations squash players in AD, for example, or swimmers in Psi U. Friendships are also often bound by the Greek scene. For the most part, by sophomore year many of your closest friends fall into one or two Greek houses.
Now for the epitome of vanity at Dartmouth: facetime. Facetime is by no means a normal form of social interaction it's a calculated method of getting on the social radar. Body image is also a big deal at Dartmouth. Overweight students are few and far between and the gym is a facetime hub. The majority of students play on a varsity, club or intramural team, but even those who don't are just as fit. One only needs to look at the number of students eating salads at Collis to realize that people here typically eat very healthily and in small portions.
But even if we occasionally do cross the line when it comes to our individual image, most of the time our pride in all things Dartmouth prevails over our personal vanities. It is fun to be a part of and master a unique social bubble like we have here in Hanover that members of the "real world" could not possibly begin to understand.
We're guilty of pride, not vanity and we're proud of what makes Dartmouth what it is, even if it means dressing up in animal print spandex.
