When I think about graduating from Dartmouth, I think less about the fact that my fellow classmates are so talented that they will be heading off to do amazing and exciting things next year, and more about the fact that most are so in love with their college that they would trade their plans in a second for a chance to be a Dartmouth student for one more year.
I was walking across campus a few nights ago with some friends, enjoying the night and somehow blocking out the fact that it would be one of our last before graduation. But as we reached the Green, it was amazing how quickly the mood changed. It was the first time I had seen the graduation stage and chairs set up for our graduation, intruding on the usually empty Green I must have walked across thousands of times over the past four years.
Seeing it that night, knowing that days later we'd be sitting in those chairs in cap and gown and walking across that stage with diploma in hand, provided the most striking reminder yet that our time at Dartmouth was really coming to an end. And all of us, all headed next year to jobs or graduate schools we're truly excited about, got the same look in our eyes. It was the same expression I've seen on so many seniors faces this past week -- of trying as hard as possible to soak in every last second of our time at Dartmouth, of being happy about where we're going but nostalgic for where we've been. We may be ready to move on to the next stage of our lives and all that other stuff people have been telling us so much about these past few weeks, but that doesn't mean we don't want to hold on for just a little while longer.
But I guess I've taken some solace these last few days in the idea that we'll never entirely leave this place. Whether we're lucky enough to be heading in the same direction as a handful of the people we've grown closest to, or moving somewhere far away from any of our Dartmouth friends, the bonds we've formed here will last for as long as we want them to.
The words to "Dartmouth Undying," one of my favorite Dartmouth songs, beautifully describe the way our time here at the College will forever be etched into our memories. "Who can forget her soft September sunsets? Who can forget those hours that passed like dreams? The long cool shadows floating on the campus, the drifting beauty where the twilight streams? Dartmouth Undying like a vision starts: Dartmouth, the gleaming, dreaming walls of Dartmouth miraculously builded in our hearts!"
Leaving the College under the shadow of the Initiative -- a time of such significant change and controversy -- makes this graduation somewhat different from those of years past. I know many of us, myself included, are leaving this place with a fear that institutions which hold so many of our most cherished memories may not be around for us to visit in years to come. But reading those words I cannot help but think back to my favorite Dartmouth memories -- and know that those memories will stay with me forever, no matter how much the College changes or how far I move away from it. I hope it does the same for all of you.
Forget just for a second all the talk about the future and the real world and the first day of the rest of our lives, and just close your eyes and remember. Remember the late nights studying or later night's playing pong, sledding down Freshman Hill on a Food Court tray or skipping class to go skiing after a big storm, sleeping out in the woods underneath the stars or taking a road trip to Montreal and staying up all night, having emotional talks with friends or just sitting around talking about nothing, picking up your finished thesis from the copier or taking two classes so you could spend more time sitting out in the sun, taking your first trip home freshman year and telling your friends about your new school or the first time when after a break you made the turn into Hanover and realized you were heading home.
As you look around today and try your best to hold onto every last second of what it feels like to be a student at this College, think back to those memories, your very favorites, and smile through the tears. We'll always have the memories, we'll always have this place, and despite all the talk about leaving and moving on, in our hearts Dartmouth will always be a part of us.
