Wow, It's sophomore summer, and it is kind of scary to say that. For so long, sophomore summer was this term of fun in the distant future that everyone looked forward to and made grand plans for. Now it is here; we're already a few weeks into it, and that is kind of frightening.
We're halfway through our Dartmouth careers, and I can hardly believe it. I can still remember the details of freshmen orientation week as if it happened yesterday. I remember the BBQ at the Hood and seeing all the a cappella groups for the first time. I remember Convocation and Matriculation and going to my first classes and feeling totally lost on this campus.
Where did the two years go? Am I the only one frightened by this? I immensely enjoyed my freshmen year, but I think I spent half of it figuring things out the hard way. I learned that repeatedly sleeping through Econ 1 is a bad idea, and that trying to write a 10 page research paper in one night is an even worse idea. Most of all, I learned that just because I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted, I didn't necessarily have to exercise that freedom with such frequency and intensity. I think I missed quite a few opportunities along the way, and I have only recently begun to reach out for the things offered to me.
I guess there are things at Dartmouth that you stumble into right away, and others that take a little longer to discover. I found the Tucker Foundation right away, but it took me a lot longer to make my way to Aquinas House. I went to Nathan's Garden and Bagel Basement for the first time this summer. Who knows what else I've been missing?
It's the same for people. One of my summer roommates was on my freshmen DOC trip. I don't know why, but we never hung out last year. It was only through one of those chance reserve corridor meetings this fall that we ever started eating together, became good friends, and I was introduced to my other summer roommates. What if I had just kept walking and hadn't stopped to talk? How many other opportunities have I missed?
Why did I wait until sophomore summer to take a music class? I love music, I always have. How many other music classes could I have taken if I had started earlier? Looking through the ORC has become a painful process. There are so many classes that I want to take, so many things I want to learn, (but not write papers about, because I still hate papers), and so few terms left to do them in. I was lucky enough to start taking geography classes freshmen fall, but philosophy came later, luckily in enough time to sign me up for the FSP.
One of the nice thing about Dartmouth is that as small as it sometimes seems, there are always new people and places that come into your life and make it a little bit nicer. When you think about them, you smile. I thought the summer was going to be conducive to that -- meeting people and bonding as a class. I was initially surprised to see that the campus has seemed cliquey, more so than usual. It makes more sense to me now. People are clinging to the people and places they love best, because everyone seems to realize that after the summer, we'll all go our separate ways. Whether it be Greek houses, campus groups, or the people we live with, we try to cherish the time we have together. The D-plan is showing us its two sides, as it has brought us together for a summer before it sends us off across the globe.
Even though the cliquey nature of the summer doesn't seem unfriendly, our class could still use some bonding. Maybe Tubestock this weekend will bring everyone a little closer together. I'm being sarcastic, of course. Call me crazy, but something about combining inner tubes, a major river and large quantities of alcohol makes me cringe. But I digress, as usual.
I had all sorts of grand plans for the summer. I was going to road trip to New York and Boston, take canoe trips, and spend lots of time down by the river. Then the first round of projects hit, and I had to chain myself to my computer. I started thinking that if I didn't change something soon, the summer would be over and I wouldn't have done all the big things that I planned. Then I thought about it some more, and realized that I don't need huge productions to make the summer great. Every ping pong game and shared bowl of popcorn means more to me than going on some whirlwind vacation. Maybe that's the point of the summer. The warm sunny days seem to encourage us to smile a little more, to stop and chat a little longer, and to enjoy the things we have before we go our separate ways.
