A friend of mine lost her virginity to a guy that was more-than-well-endowed and found herself in painful agony after those glorious 12 seconds of primal lust (for him, at least) ended. Not only did the pain his little (not really) man cause from inexperienced jackrabbit thrusting mortify my poor friend – who will not be named for obvious reasons – she then also had to deal with the guy freaking out because he thought she got her period all over his bed – ouch. For those 30.2 percent of NU students who report still being virgins: Don’t worry, not all first times are that (emotionally or physically) painful.

Although it is unlikely most virgins still possess their proverbial “v-card” to simply avoid a night (or a few seconds) of potential embarrassment and discomfort, some abstain from sex for religious reasons. For 29.9 percent of our fully-clothed respondents, religion is the main motive for doing the dirty with only one person: their future spouse. “I don’t have sex because I believe that sex is a special thing that should be saved for the one person you know you are spending the rest of your life with and love completely,” explains a Communication senior who donned a Catholic schoolgirl uniform during her high school years.

So, for those other 70 percent of virgins, why no nooky? Says one junior female survey respondent, “I’d love to gain a date and lose my virginity, but apparently that’s never going to happen.” Similarly, 42.4 percent of virgin respondents report having a desire to have more sex at Northwestern – for these students, is being a virgin simply – and unfortunately – attributed to an inability to fi nd someone to fornicate with? Yes, say 34.5 percent of virgins who agree it is not easy to find someone to have sex with at NU. No matter what the reason is for sitting out from the no-pants-dance (just how many nicknames are there for sex…), NU seems to have an unusually high percentage of virgins. According to Playboy’s College Sex Poll, 17 percent of college students nationwide are still virgins.

For those virgins ready to get that fi rst time out of the way, it might be one of the best or one of the most awkward nights of your life, but hey, it’s just one night either way.