As a wise old junior, I planned on writing a really impressive column showcasing my extensive knowledge of Dartmouth, dispensing pellets of knowledge like so many pieces of Pez and impressing all the cute '04 girls on the way. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how anything I could say about this place would be either an angry diatribe or a depressing rant. And come on, we all know that I haven't been able to come up with an impressive column in well over a year now. But I am a junior and, since I stayed back in kindergarten, I'm probably older than a lot of you. Therefore, I feel entitled and obligated to share some of the Dartmouth knowledge I've gained in my experiences here.
One of the many, and perhaps the most important, pearls of wisdom I picked up somewhere between the hallowed halls of learning and the mungy basements of frats is that Dartmouth is not perfect. Each fall, with each new class of matriculating students, the College experiences a reawakening of hope as enthusiastic, optimistic freshmen flood the campus, expecting their four-year stay in Hanover to be an idyllic, blissful period of self-discovery. By the time the tour buses of old people arrive to watch the leaves change color, this optimism is long gone. When I came to Dartmouth, I didn't really know what to expect. Since I've been here, the administration has gone out of its way to belittle the experiences I value and enjoy, and has taken great pains to make me feel less important than a prospective applicant. No matter what you expect from Dartmouth, no matter what you ask of the College on the Hill, you will be let down. Like the Red Sox in the middle of a pennant race, Dartmouth will inevitably find a way to disappoint you. Letdowns and disappointments are part of life, and life at Dartmouth is no exception. But before you get all depressed and the College starts putting up Cornell-like suicide numbers, let me say this -- as much as Dartmouth disappoints me and frustrates me at times, I still love it here. And if I can love it here, anyone can.
True, we're in the middle of nowhere and the social options are limited, to say the least. And yes, the administration does appear to be relentlessly attacking the one social option that seems to do the most to answer the needs of the students. There are two ways of looking at the way the administration interferes with social life. The cynic (usually me), would say that the administrators are tearing apart Greek life because they're afraid the presence of a strong Greek element on campus deters prospective students, leaving them to choose between the bustling social scenes at schools like Yale and Harvard. Or, you could look at the administration as acting in loco parentis; nobody boots and rallies in the real world, so why should you do it while you're at Dartmouth? Well, as far as I'm concerned, nobody's required to speak French in the real world, either, but you don't see the French department being asked to remove their kegs. But, as you've no doubt been told over and over again, your education at Dartmouth is not limited to books and lectures nor is it confined to the classroom. By ignoring student input on such important things as social options or the new library (which, by the way, rivals DHMC for being the cleanest-looking hospital in the state), the administration has taught the students here a valuable lesson: just because you have $120,000 to blow on an education doesn't mean you're afforded a voice.
At other colleges, you might find a supportive, sympathetic administration, major advisors, and dorm rooms bigger than a shoebox. At other colleges, you might find Rhodes scholars, huge course selection, and a football team capable of winning more than two games a year. But if you went anywhere else, you'd lose out on the inestimable value of a Dartmouth education. The most important thing to learn at Dartmouth is that your time is what you make of it. The Trustees and their social-engineering cohorts aren't magically going to come up with a great social alternative to the Greek system (short of transplanting the entire campus to Boston or, better yet, Montreal). No professor is going to hold your hand and help you figure out what you're doing. If the aim of college is self-discovery, than I can think of no better place to spend four years than Dartmouth. This place forces you to grow and make the most of it by constantly tearing away at the things you enjoy the most. It forces you to be humble because it treats prospective students and college-guide rankers as more important than yourself. But the trick to Dartmouth is to look within and rely on yourself, and if you do that, you'll be as happy here as you would be anywhere else.
