The calendar may say autumn, but with wide-eyed '06s shmobbing their way around campus, full of excitement, wonder and anticipation, one could easily mistake it for spring: the same sense of rebirth and renewal that accompanies every new class is back and as strong as ever.
The '06s (or, as I like to call them, fresh blood) have an aura of enthusiasm about them that appears to be invincible. After all, this is college, and every new detail is exciting, from the new responsibilities of having to do one's own laundry, to the anticipation of how difficult college courses will really be, to the conviction that the football team will put on a performance worth watching.
And then the acorns start to fall, literally and metaphorically, and, as you nurse your bruised head back to health, you realize two things: it is indeed fall, and Dartmouth is far from perfect. I urge '06s as well as upperclassmen to take the experience with more than a few grains of salt and keep your feet planted on the ground. I love Dartmouth and feel privileged to have the opportunity to spend four years of my life far away from the hustle and bustle of real responsibility, but that doesn't mean there aren't some things that you, particularly in the height of fall enthusiasm, can do to make it better.
Case in point: the casual observer will see Dartmouth ranked near the top in quality of food service and assume that, like in everything else, Dartmouth excels in dining. End of story. Why complain when we've got the best chicken cordon bleu going? Extortion, that's why. Here's where I revert to the standard 10th-grade beginning to a paper: Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines "extortion" as "the act or practice of obtaining by force, intimidation or undue or illegal power; a gross overcharge." This definition fits nicely with how Dartmouth compels its students into paying ridiculous amounts in Declining Balance Accounts each term, charging outrageous penalties to those who simply do not eat as much as others. Meanwhile, Dartmouth Dining Services prices continue to increase at a rate surpassing not just inflation but the increasing cost of a college education. And extortion via DDS is not the only way Dartmouth, as a private institution of higher learning, feels that it is above the law. Keep your eyes open.
Perhaps the same casual observer will see famous figures, from Sheryl Crow to Ehud Barak to Yo-Yo Ma to Wynton Marsalis, come all the way to the middle of nowhere because of the name recognition and tuition dollars Dartmouth throws at them, and come to the same conclusion: Dartmouth excels in every facet of a liberal arts education. However, throw into the mix the fact that students, whose families' dollars bring such personalities here, are typically reserved only a quarter of the seats for any given performance or lecture, and your perceptions might change. For instance, in the case of Wynton Marsalis, tickets were already unavailable by the time upperclassmen arrived on campus; community members snatched up the ludicrously lopsided number of tickets made available to them before most Dartmouth students even knew what was happening. Another case of Dartmouth doing all it can to look like a top-notch institution while actually letting its students down behind the scenes, and another example of how Dartmouth places its priorities on taking measures to attract prospective students; once matriculation comes around it completely neglects the students who actually attend.
Complacency is as bad as apathy. Dartmouth is far from perfect, and blindly accepting every facet of your college experience as if that's what it's supposed to be will preemptively negate any potential you have to affect positive change. By all means, be -- and stay -- enthusiastic about the opportunities you have here. But don't be content just settling for those opportunities. Never assume that Dartmouth's seedy underbelly is such an entrenched part of life here that it cannot change. This is our Dartmouth right now; it's not the trustees' Dartmouth, or prospective '07s' and '08s' Dartmouth, or even the Upper Valley community's Dartmouth. Don't be afraid to make it your own.
