YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CLUB

Real Young Professionals Clubs exist everywhere – in the professional world.

The members of NU's pseudo-chapter don't assemble. They dress well: wearing skirts, collared button-ups, sweaters, pea coats, shiny leather Kenneth Coles. Hair gel's in place and shirt's evenly tucked in. They work well: Armed with day planners and/or quality office products, their econ assignments are in on time, their class participation is adequate and their résumé boasts multiple internships. They play well: Navigating a shiny SUV (or comparable upscale sedan) into Lincoln Park at nighttime and standing posture-perfect near the bar, they easily blend in with Chicago's real Yuppies at any $9-a-drink watering hole. Mind me, I'm only a year or two away …

The current economic troubles are the hot topic amongst NU's YP's, and their dreams of big jobs in Big Consulting have faded in favor of grad-school apps, or practice interviews, or a gig set up by a family friend. Don't worry about them, though; they'll be doing something next year. An NU YP isn't of the mold that takes the year off, or hasn't starting looking for a job yet, or just isn't ready for the corporate world. I've been waiting for this my whole life, sir.

Alcohol is the poison of choice for the young YP – sometimes enjoyed in polite moderation, other times abused enough to warrant puking in the bathroom of a top-notch fraternity formal. Drugs must be kept to a minimum, with an internship substance test constantly looming in the distance. The fun-loving YP might be caught "slumming" at the 1800 Club or the Deuce, while more refined local evenings might take them to a table at Pete Miller's or a barstool at say, Bar Louie. Say, did you know there's a Bar Louie in Lincoln Park, too? Meanwhile, the more academic YP might be presiding over a study group at Norris, or preparing a marketing plan for that rigorous Business Institutions course.

When faced with a free afternoon, a YP scoffs at Frisbees in the courtyard and heads off to play nine or 18 at the local links. Musn't enter the business world with a slice, I've been told. If not the sporting type, then it's off to downtown or to the boutiques in Winnetka for some shopping. Do NU girls really wear stuff from the Evanston Gap?

I once heard a Wildcat YP extolling the virtues of lunching in Leverone. The food is so much better. And the conversation, much more refined than Sargent or Allison. Plus, you catch a good stock tip here and there.

But you wouldn't want to listen in. That just wouldn't be professional.

- Luke Winn

At 2/8/03 7:41 AM,

wrote:

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Redefining the NU Stereotypes
14 new categories of Wildcat
by David Bartholow, Luke Winn and Manu Krishnan