With another foot or so of snow dumped upon Hanover, many of us have been wondering why we ever came to this godforsaken place and even more of us are looking longingly toward the haven of spring break that lies only a few short weeks away to save us from this misery. It's just another winter at Dartmouth and we can't wait for it to be over. After all, there's a reason only about 15 percent of juniors are on campus right about now.
In past winters, maybe I would have agreed. It's hard to enjoy yourself when every step you take outdoors is almost excruciatingly unbearable and when you come back inside all you have to look forward to is the mountain of work that comes from having a term that's a week shorter than the typical already-short term.
But I've realized that things are different when it's your last winter as an undergraduate in Hanover. When introducing yourself to someone new as an '03, it's not uncommon for him or her to respond with, "Oh, I'm sorry," with a voice full of hopelessness as if you suffer from a terminal illness. We suffer together for the walks down Mass Row or Webster Avenue, but our conversations largely center on our prospects and plans for next year. Some of us will go off to Africa for work in the Peace Corps, some will be doing Teach for America somewhere in the middle of the desert and larger numbers of us will seek employment or pursue graduate studies in any number of cities across the country and even around the world. Our paths are diverging in even more ways than they did from our peers when we left high school.
These opportunities unquestionably bring us great excitement, as they should: we are venturing into uncharted waters and no matter what we end up finding, the surprises awaiting us are motivation enough to wish the rest of senior year away so we can get on with the next phase of our lives. But meanwhile, as we discuss our futures with our friends, we're reminded of the typically low likelihood that we'll have chances to see each other with any regularity at all after graduation.
At Dartmouth, it's hard to step back and appreciate what we have here even if we try because the term passes by so quickly. But what's worse is not to try at all, and, indeed, to wish the term away entirely. There are only so many terms you can wish away looking forward to the next spring break or the next step in life before all the terms are gone completely.
College life is sort of an oxymoron. We're bombarded from all sides by people well removed from college life who tell us that college is supposed to be the best four years of our lives and meanwhile, in the midst of it, we stress out over classes, bicker over administrative policies and often have no fun at all because of all the issues over which we obsess. But it seems to me that all those people telling us how much we should appreciate these four years might know something we don't. The opportunity we have here certainly is unique.
Spring break is going to be great -- I know I'm looking forward to it. Life after college will be an adventure too (but, then again, so was coming to college until college life became routine). But the mystery and excitement promised by these brief interludes and distant prospects should not dim the excitement of enjoying college life, especially since we only have only a few months left to live it. Life is not only lived in the future, it is also lived in the present. Make sure you take a breath and appreciate the myriad interludes of everyday life here we too often take for granted.
