Overthree years of lunch at the Hop I have observed numerous things that made me chuckle. The Happy Hop Guy was a cheerful source of humor. But most of my laughs have been inspired by fellow students as they pass through each others lives.
The most consistent reason to laugh came from the seniors, who each year move through the Hop in monkey suits dressed to kill, or at least dressed to work. For these were the seniors going through the corporate recruiting process and the objects of my laughter.
As a philosophy major I viewed these seniors as students who had missed the entire point of their education. Why spend so much money to acquire a liberal arts education only to sell your soul to the firm? How could a presumably intelligent person view Dartmouth as a great name on a resume, an investment which will soon pay off in a great starting salary?
For 50 grand a year, what did these people have to look forward to? Almost certainly 12 hour work days at the grunt-and-sweat level of a company.
This, I felt, was definitely not for me. Perhaps I would wait tables and write freelance, or maybe just travel the country, sleeping and eating free in all the locations where my friends have settled.
But now I am a senior and it seems my greatest fears are about to come true -- I may become what I despise.
There is an internal clock that goes off somewhere during the course of the summer before senior year. While we were scattered around the country, several of my friends all heard the same alarm. Its sound means it will soon be time to join the real world.
True to form, I hit the snooze button, but we all know that snooze offers but a short reprieve. Upon arriving on campus I discovered that my Hinman Box was filled with Career News and a list of meetings I need to attend to learn about corporate recruiting.
Admittedly, I am currently skipping the first of these meetings in order to write this column. I haven't changed that much. But I plan on getting into the whole machine very soon.
So how does an idealistic youth end up considering selling out? Lacking a clear direction, it is the path of least resistance. Certainly I will gain some valuable experience from the process itself, and if I land a job it could mean getting paid lots of dough while I try to figure out what I want to do with my life.
Perhaps I am simply rationalizing. Maybe the reality is that I have swallowed the Dartmouth line that I must do something productive and lucrative, and I must do it soon. Maybe I am just caving to the pressure from those people who majored in economics instead of philosophy, who always had the great internships while I was waiting tables.
If you see me walking through the Hop in a suit, please do not laugh too loud. I might sell out for a while, but it will give me time before I make any big, long-term decisions. And hey, everybody's doing it.
