It was my junior fall when I joined the Voices advisory board. I was eligible because I had attended three of the Voices events. At my first meeting, I had the right to vote on speakers and make suggestions. There were four executive positions that split up the work of publicity, treasury, general executive and projects. It was a very open organization in terms of work and input. No president had the last say. We spent the term picking speakers for the next term and hosting the events that we had arranged the previous term. I'm going to stop now and let you reflect on what I've just said. What's odd about this picture?
Imagine if you were in an organization that you had to know about first before joining ... know about so well that you had to attend three of their events. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Just consider this extreme case -- I was once elected to a position in a prominent organization on campus without having gone to one regular meeting. As a side note, I ended up resigning the next day, since I wanted to concentrate on the other organization that I was involved in.
Let me give you some more details about Voices. We are guided by the description initially written for The Dartmouth which reads as follows, "Voices will ask speakers to share matters of personal significance, in hopes that listeners will gain insight about their own lives. The objective is to encourage open-mindedness by providing an opportunity to discover and explore the diversity of personal values that exist among the College's students, faculty and administrators. Each meeting will start with a brief speech, upon which listeners are encouraged to reflect and discuss."
Our first contact with a speaker is through BlitzMail. In addition to this invitation, we will meet with a potential speaker in person to go over the goals of the organization and answer any questions. When we approach a speaker, we always make sure that there are two people going so that they can support each other. Someone always volunteers. Posters are always made at least four days before the event.
At the beginning of every term people sign up to post in certain buildings, and they pick up the posters from the publicity coordinator's door. We put the posters up two days before our gatherings so that they don't get covered up. In addition, we post the event on the major bulletins and to the main voices mailing list. The organization is actually a little less formal now, you can join if you are interested in the group and have attended one or two events. Also, we now have a president with a little more power so that they can supervise the other positions. Other than that, the only changes are that we do more events.
I have a confession to make. I love this organization. I love its main goals, and I love the gatherings we organize -- but one of its greatest and most unusual strengths is that it's organized. The members are considerate of each other and do what they say they will do. We depend on each other to get things done, and we take care of things in advance. I can trust the other members of the organization for the most part. Sure, we have a few stragglers, but the high standards are there, and everyone strives for them without question. How do they do it?
Frankly, the leaders and members expect only the very best. This leads to our feeling of being a team and to high-quality events. Have you ever taken a class where the professor expected you to do your very best? If you worked hard and succeeded, didn't it feel good? Well, this is what Voices is about. This is what all of Dartmouth should be about.
Let's face it: Dartmouth is suffering from over-commitment and uninspiring inefficiency. It seems like a miracle to me at times that a group like Voices can exist. I've been a member of many organizations, but Voices is the only one where I am inspired by the other members most of the time.
Going to Voices meetings was a relief, and I do it for as much my peace of mind as for the group's goals.
I have had more of my share of professors who expect that students are only interested in the grade. This has ruined my classes. The professors teach in less depth, and the students are less motivated.
I would rather get a B in a class that was challenging and where I learned a lot than get an A in an easy and trivial one. These high standards should be everywhere in our lives. They would make them so much better. Take classes to learn about the material, don't be afraid to be inquisitive and understand what you are learning. Tell people, including your professors, that you expect more from them when you count on them. We all need feedback every now and then.
Don't let anybody think that mediocrity is okay, because it's not -- not at Dartmouth.
There are a few people here with these high standards. I'm on a personal mission to encourage more of them to come out of hiding. I shared my experience with Voices in the hope that it will offer inspiration. The more we expect from ourselves and others, the more we will get in return.
