Grad students: dorky or intimidating?

Tonight, after seeing Benjamin Netanyahu give a rather kick-ass speech, I went to redeem my free cappucino (or cappucoino, or something, the voucher had a typo) at Aroma, that ever-more-famous Israeli coffee bar on Houston. The free beverage was part of an event hosted by Gesher, NYU's pro-Israel group. I tried my darndest to make some friends outside of my new and fabulous grad-student circle, but the moment I dropped the phrase "grad student," I-- who happen to look a bit undergraddish, and could initially "pass"-- was pretty much avoided. According to the guy I spoke to briefly at this event, either NYU grad students don't go in much for supporting Israel or they (we) don't go to these events because they (we) don't want to mingle with the young'uns. My theory? Maybe, just maybe, the undergrads find us just the tiniest bit intimidating. Or dorky. I mean, both are true.

Which brings me to the point of this post. It is absolutely awesome to be a grad student. I will now list the reasons:

1) No required science classes. OK, this is not true for science grad students, but you know what I mean.

2) No required gym classes.

3) No orientation-week swim test. The horror.

4) Wine and cheese seem to figure prominently.

5) Tons of interesting work. And no science requirement will mean there's time to complete it.

6) Assigned reading from the UChicago Western Civ series! I never took Western Civ, so this is very exciting for me.

7) Tons of other people almost as geeky as I am! OK, not quite, that takes a lot, but they're quite cool all the same.

8) I can wear all the elbow patches I want without feeling like a poser.

9) Same goes for blazers, tweed, and overworn clothes of all kinds.

10) A chance to be older, wiser, and, on occasion-- and unintentially!-- intimidating.