So this is it, the fabled sophomore summer. The highlight of life in Hanover. The crowning jewel of the oft-maligned D-Plan. The term by which all others will be judged. With all the fanfare and ballyhoo surrounding what purports to be among the best ten weeks of my life here on Earth, I figured I'd approach it with an open mind. So, for now at least, I'll keep my complaining to a minimum. I won't blast the Student Assembly or gripe about the administration or prattle on about my precious Greek system. Instead, I'll ruminate rather shallowly about what this term means to Dartmouth students. And if I ramble on or lose my focus, it won't really matter, because if you're sitting down somewhere reading this instead of doing something fun and taking advantage of the lovely weather, well, you're entirely missing the point of Camp Dartmouth anyway.
If spring is a season of growth and eternal hope, then summer is a term of transition and eternal slacking. We -- and by "we" I mean the Class of 2002 (interloping '01s and vagabond '03s be damned) -- are given free reign over one of the prettiest campuses on God's green Earth. And whether you're taking two gut classes and NRO-ing both of them or taking four difficult major classes, it is still requisite that everyone find time to enjoy the rustic outdoors life that is as stereotypical of the Dartmouth experience as is the hallowed boot-and-rally ethos. With the fine weather comes countless trips to the rope swing, studying on the Green, outdoor basketball, outdoor pong, and, my favorite, seemingly endless games of Wiffleball. However, with great freedom comes great responsibility, and underneath the veneer of summer relaxation lurks the fact that we, as a class and as individuals, have been thrown into positions of great responsibility and leadership. In many ways, the fate of Dartmouth "as we know it" rests on our slender shoulders.
Without experienced seniors on campus to look to for guidance, the summer edition of the Student Assembly faces the daunting task of coming up with their own ideas on how to improve the College. Committees and sub-committees and sub-sub-committees will doubtless be organized by '02s to tackle the many issues the Student Assembly will face this summer. My advice to them: don't lose too much sleep over it, guys; wherever you decide to put the new Blitz computers will be just fine.
Members of the Greek community face a similarly precarious term of transition. After being treated as something less than human for the duration of nightmarish pledge periods, brothers and sisters are given the keys to the castles on Webster Avenue. Don't think that the administration isn't aware of the fact that the young men and women who are now exalted leaders of their respective Greek organizations are only weeks removed from being worthless, scum-sucking pledges. So execs, be wary; if the Trustees and Co. are going to attack the Greek system, they'll do it now, while everyone's still reeling from crushed self-esteem and the psychological wounds inflicted from pledge period are still open and runny.**##
In all seriousness, this summer term is ripe with potential. Ask any of the students who have already experienced their "sophomore summer" what they thought of it and countless great stories will follow. True, it's a wee bit of a downer to have to take classes in the summer when all your friends from other colleges are relaxing by the beach or pulling in a few hundred dollars a week while sitting on their ass in some air-conditioned office with a sweet internship that Daddy got them. But, five years from now, we'll all be filthy rich 'I-bankers' anyway so it's tough to be jealous. Besides, look outside. It's absolutely beautiful here.
So, use this summer to relax a little and soak up all that is great about Dartmouth. The summer is a great time to be in New Hampshire and this is a great time to be a student at Dartmouth College. Things are going to start to change pretty soon, for better or worse, so make the most out of what you like about the College and look for ways to improve what you don't like. As we assume roles of leadership in every facet of College life, roles that we will continue to fill next year since the seniors will be too busy with theses and corporate whoring, we should take our responsibility seriously. As Smokey the Bear is wont to say: Only you can make a difference. Or something like that.
