Before I matriculated at Dartmouth, I thought I knew the school pretty well. I thought either I would despise the rural environment and become completely bored with the College, or I would enjoy the serene country club lifestyle.
Born and raised in New York City, I knew myself to be a subway rat and city-dweller. I really enjoy being pushed into a packed subway car or honked at the moment the traffic light turns green.
My first term at Dartmouth proved nothing short of a shell shock for me. Life progressed at a much slower pace. There was finally time to actually take a sigh of relief from the hustle-and-bustle of city life.
And there was a dangerous side to this more mellow lifestyle at Dartmouth. It was too self-contained and offered few social alternatives. Only a college in a major city would replicate my customary surroundings.
Something provoked me to give Dartmouth a bit more time, so I fought off my urges to transfer. Instead, I reasoned that I would just "do my time" here. I chose to look at the self-contained environment as an asset which would allow me to remain focused on my academics. After all, with a strong undergraduate track record, career opportunities would inevitably be enhanced.
My reasoning was analogous to killing an ant with a sledgehammer; I spent so much time on academics that I was not having fun. Fortunately, I realized that early enough to reevaluate how I could enjoy the rest of my Dartmouth experience.
I realized that it's not essential that I be in a city to have fun, and that I was mistaken to believe that Dartmouth offered few things that I would enjoy. I was no longer this misplaced city boy trapped in the domains of a rural New England college. I gradually became a fortunate soul who was able to take a vacation in a place which virtually offered the same facilities as a country club, plus around-the-clock drinks which were invariably "on the house."
When people ask me "Why graduate in three years?" I usually respond by saying that because I came in with a year's worth of credits, I was in a position to do so. I was always reluctant to say that I just wanted to get the hell out of here, even though I would jokingly say this to my close friends. Perhaps there was something that forbade me to say I didn't truly enjoy Dartmouth.
And now I feel my Dartmouth experience was abruptly cut short. Dartmouth continues to grow on me. I will miss a senior year with my classmates, I will not be able to take elective classes (every class I took fulfilled some requirement), and I will miss a liberal arts education. But I leave here with pleasant memories of a college which I ironically disliked so much that I wanted out.
