<p>Lol, sorry Sarah...I've actually never even tried to read Melville. I did try Tom Jones though, and yeah, couldn't get past the first chapter. (Story of my life...)</p>
<p>I think there is also an element of self depricating humor that comes into play in this scenario. I hate grade grovellers, but I never really viewed "nerd" with a negative connatation: I dont use it in the context of the short kid with zits, glasses, and buck teeth. Its the same with the word "jock" for example, I do not associate it with a hulking football player with an IQ of 2. I think the word "nerd" in this case is simply being associated with a love for learning and "quirkiness." </p>
<p>On another note: How do you guys view the word "dork."</p>
<p>Oh and about Moby Dick... I could not stand it... Everytime I think about I just remember that one part about Ishmael with his hands engulfed in whale blubber going on about the feeling of having his hands brush against the hands of his fellow crew members and the sense of companionship it elicites... Alll of this amongst whale blubbber?.... what was Melville thinking...?!?!?</p>
<p>But then again I really admire those who appreciate it... Its not referred to as the great american novel for nothing and i guess in the end its me who is missing out....</p>
<p>I had a class on it in ninth grade, and at first I thought it was boring at points, but then I began to really enjoy it, even with the pretty elementary analysis my class did of it. I'd really love to read it again in college. We studied it in conjunction to early American literature, and the whole subject block just really stuck with me, stood out among a lot of other English blocks. Our class even visited Mystic Seaport as a field trip in order to learn about whaling :)</p>
<p>On the subject of dorkdom, I usually use the word as a teasing, sometimes affectionate term for friends. One of my friends, for example, owns an "I heart dorks" t-shirt, which always cracks me up, mostly for its cuteness.</p>
<p>Lol, you read Moby Dick for 9th grade English? That is so impressive. Wow...I guess Utah English classes are pretty backward. Freshman year we read Great Expectations, Jekyll & Hyde, Watership Down, and Romeo & Juliet.</p>
<p>And aren't they all the same things? Dork, nerd, geek, freak, stupid, idiot, weirdo, retard, etc. they all contain the same connotation for me. However, I should mention that I go to high school in Happy Valley, where people tend to be a lot kinder to each other. Of course, that's not to say that cliques don't exist, but people seem to be a lot more tolerant of different things (as long as it's modest and in keeping with church standards).</p>
<p>I think all the books you read count as high school reading, just like Moby Dick. Dickens and Shakespeare have a fighting chance with Melville :)</p>
<p>To me a nerd is simply someone who enjoys learning for its own sake... something I think applies to all UChicago students. Within nerd is "geek," which carries connotations of poor hygeine, classes, pimples, and awkward social skills. I definately saw a few of these when I visisted Chicago. I call the ones who just work their asses off for grades so that they might be able to make money later in life "slaves." </p>
<p>After one of the houses was dismissed at the overnight student panel thing, one of the students said "There's one thing you have to do before u come to UChicago. Repeat after me: I am a nerd" (the whole place booms: I am a nerd) "You are a nerd" (etc) "We're all nerds." </p>
<p>It all depends on how you define the term.</p>
<p>mmm...now I know what seperates harvard and the university of chicago. :)</p>
<p>Things may have changed since I did my graduate work at Chicago. I knew many undergrads because we had a number of them working in our lab and I was a TA for a couple of years. The undergrads I knew did not consider themselves nerds or geeks. Many were into punk and the Chicago club scene. All were hard working, and many, hard partying types. They were brilliant, insightful, funny, and at times a little goofy. When we were at conferences or other events, they intellectually and argumentatively ran rings around their Ivy peers (which I understand just happened again with the model UN competition). Recently, I spoke with a friend's daughter who is completing her Ph.D. at Chicago. Her impression after working with U of C undergrads, was much like mine. Come to think of it, perhaps things haven't changed that much after all.</p>
<p>I don't know how true this is as the source is kind of stretched but:</p>
<p>I was stretching at the gym and the guy next to me had a friend that went to Chicago grad whom he claimed was a pretty crazy kid.... so you never know... I think like most schools it really depends on what crowd you fall in with</p>
<p>I am married to an astronomer, and am used to people that are a little odd, and don't care about fashion or room decor. Sometimes, they achieve great things - but they're just never going to be fashion plates (and remember, these are formal photos):</p>
<p>(the economics laurels clean up a little better, but you get the idea!)</p>
<p>Haha--I don't know, I think they all look normal enough. Would you really want Armani models splitting your atoms and such?</p>
<p>Armani models playing in the Fermi pile - the stuff of nightmares, indeed.</p>
<p>Ooh btw, I take back what I ever said about Chicago and nerds. I did the overnight and honestly, everyone looked normal to me and people were perfectly social and friendly. Now I am just confused about how they got the reputation. The story I have heard is that one year during some surveys a group of seniors got together and thought it would be funny to lie on their polls.</p>
<p>yeah ive heard a bunch of different things. one of the most common is similar to the supposed 'myth' of their horrid weather: that uoc students simply like the perception that they work hella hard and they have no social life (to reinforce the studiousness perception), so they btch on and on to friends, relatives, on surveys, etc. about the atmosphere at the school. this is similar to one explanation of the weather there, that chicagoans also simply like to btch about the weather more than people from most other areas. i dunno, just proves that things like college guidebooks and reference materials can be wrong.</p>
<p>Whereas the characterization of the students may not be accurate, the characterization of winter weather as horrid is pretty accurate. But, as my mother used to say, "it builds character."</p>
<p>yeah, the weather was pretty horrid...50 degrees at the end of april is not my idea of spring...</p>
<p>14 inches of snow outside my window in NE Ohio - and we're running on generator power - 50 degrees sounds wonderful!</p>
<p>Glad your visit went well, coffeecake!</p>