By Bri Zeiberg ’19

Viral videos of students jumping off roofs while intoxicated and half-naked sorority girls fill the screens of over 570,000,000 followers of the social media phenomenon, “I’m Shmacked.” (According to Urban Dictionary, tThe definition of the term “shmacked” is, “to be so drunk or high to the point of not being able to function.”) High school and college students worldwide tune in everyday to see a variety of videos highlighting colleges’ craziest moments.

With a large following on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, “I’m Shmacked” claims in their Instagram bio that it is “a new way to scout colleges.” However, this is not the way a student should go about their college decision process, and their claim is also misleading.

Students should focus on the academic portion of the school because that is the main purpose of attending college. Parents don’t pay thousands of dollars each year to have their kid party and not fully dive into their academics.

It is true that many of my peers are amongst the hundreds of thousands of followers that this fan base has. And I admit that I, in fact, do follow “I’m Shmacked” on a majority of their platforms just so I can see the humor and liveliness that is a part of the college experience. But, what I do not do is base my interests in certain colleges by who can out drink the other.

It is in the best interest of students among our community and around the world to focus on realistic academic goals for college before getting their heart set on some party school they saw on Instagram. Although “I’m Shmacked” gives you a small glimpse of the college scene, it fails to capture the true college experience.