I did a lot of things in high school.
I was active in student government and the managing editor of the school newspaper. I was on the debate team, edited a debate publication, had a radio show and knew everyone by name. I did a lot, and I loved doing a lot, having my hands in absolutely everything that was going on, making my presence known.
When I came to Dartmouth, I wanted to keep doing a lot, and I did. But that's not what this story is about. This is the story of a guy who thought he'd be doing pretty much more of the same in college, but who instead ended up having new and challenging experiences in college that he never could have imagined. You're going to get a lot of advice before arriving here. Let me give you some more: get involved in things that will deepen your experience of life, things that will challenge you more than ever before, new and dramatic and strange things. In short, do things differently at Dartmouth.
When I told my friends and family that I was going to join the Marines to become an officer and go to boot camp the summer after my freshman year, no one believed me. Some laughed at me. The better people knew me, the less they believed I was serious. Certainly, no one thought I would survive. You see, I'm not much of a killer. I'm not a hard guy.
But when the opportunity arose to go to Marine boot camp, the idea struck me as so patently absurd that I couldn't get it out of my mind. I applied for it, pulled the minimum of 10 pull-ups, ran the three miles, pushed out the 100 sit-ups in a minute, and was accepted. I went to Quantico, Va. last summer, down where the sands are burning hot, down to the land where God forgot. I slept five hours a night for six weeks, I drilled with my M-16, I marched mile after mile with a blister-broken gait, I pounded my chest and yelled "kill" just like everyone else in my platoon, so loud that my voice grew hoarse and unrecognizable. I called out cadences on long runs, and served as Candidate Platoon Sergeant in my platoon, and got mocked the whole time by huge, hulking Marines for going to Dartmouth and for thinking I could survive with a bunch of hard guys. And by the end, I did survive.
When I told my friends from high school that I was joining the crew team my sophomore year, they asked me to repeat myself. I've never been on anything but club teams before. Surely not crew, that masochistic and horrific sport.
But when I got back my sophomore year from my time with the Corps, I arrived at the crew meeting and starting rowing. Winter came early last year. Our first race of the fall we raced in freezing sleet. It was an unforgettable experience: racing down the Connecticut, the dappled colors of fall foliage lining the hilly banks, sleet falling around us, pulling so hard and long that we could feel our skin rubbing off our wet fingers. That kind of struggle teaches you something about the nature of your character. It vividly illuminates who you are when all that is within you wants to give up, and you have to make the decision to quit or continue. And in the end, we continued.
I wasn't involved in whole lot of spiritual pursuits in high school either. The school I came from was a pretty secular place, and a conformist place, where it would have been odd to be brazen about spiritual interests. One of the great things about Dartmouth, though, is that you can be a member of any group or club and no one is going to think any differently of you. When I came here, I got involved in Navigators' Christian Fellowship, and that has been a tremendous experience. Exploring the nature of truth, of life, of meaning and love with a group of honest, intelligent and soul-searching students here has been enriching and deepening in indescribable ways. You cannot pursue your education unless you consider the fundamentals of existence. And at the end, we've pondered great questions together.
All of this is to say that you've probably had some great times doing some fun things in high school. I certainly did. But Dartmouth is a new experience, and you should treat it as such. Do new and dangerous things. This is a rare college, a place where you can pursue the fullness of education in all realms: academic, physical and spiritual. If you want your diploma to be worth something, pursue all of these things. And at the end, your heart will break when you leave this place.
