Now that Winter term is almost over, Jean Ellen Cowgill looks forward to senior spring and gets some advice from alums looking back.
Sophomore summer and senior spring. Hands down, no other terms at Dartmouth generate as much anticipation and excitement as these two. Mention either one to an '08 right now, and they will gush at length about how totally sweet it was or will be. They played or will play so much pong. They took/will take such easy classes. They had or will have crazy Dartmouth Adventures. It was or will be the best term of their college career.
At its core, however, the hype surrounding both these iconic terms is a defense mechanism. If we couldn't make sophomore summer awesome, if we couldn't defend it as a uniquely Dartmouth experience that other colleges only wish they could replicate, let's be honest, it would just be summer school.
Similarly, the legend of senior spring has everything to do with Dartmouth's quarter system. Other college seniors have been coping with "last semester ever" shock since February. By now, the bad news is old news: Yup, we're graduating. Suck it up and deal.
Meanwhile, Winter term gives us Dartmouth seniors an easy outlet for denial. Over winter break when family friends said, "So, heading into your last semester -- " I could defiantly counter, "No, I have two quarters left (booyah!)." Alas, my friends, the past 10 weeks have given us a totally false sense of security. And when we return in March, the quarter system comes back to bite us in the ass. Not only must we finally accept our impending graduation, now it's only a hop, skip and a jump of ten weeks away. Holy Collis baked goods, Batman! We're leaving and we aren't coming back!
So we use senior spring as a shield. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. We might be -- well, you know -- in ten weeks, but not before we have the best! Ten! Weeks! Ever! So many theme parties left to rock, so many dance parties left to mock. So much Dartmouth left -- live it up!
With so much hype and so little time, there's great pressure to make every last second count. And herein lies the difference between sophomore summer and senior spring. Before that summer of yore, juniors and seniors gave us tons of advice. Hit the rope swing! Go to the copper mines! Rage! Now, we face a similarly critical ten weeks, only to find our '06 and '07 advisors have peaced out to the cubicles and cramped apartments that now await us.
I don't know about the rest of you '08s, but as I face the task of creating you know, the best ten weeks of my life, I think a few helpful hints could be helpful. Hence, with the aid of some sororal connections -- putting those everlasting bonds of friendship to use -- I bring you some advice from the afterlife: what '07s wish they had known about senior spring.
Embrace the Dartmouth-ness
By our fourth year, we tend to become a tad jaded by the Dartmouth scene. "Togas? Seriously? That is so freshmen fall." But the time has come to re-embrace our inner freshman, my friends. "Go all out when you enjoy those ridiculous theme parties! While it definitely won't be your last Green Key ever, live it up before you have to bequest your hottest outfits in exchange for a gray suit," advised Erika Ruberry '07. "Your thesis will find a way to get done, and you can sleep on June 9th." Meetings are Sesame Street themed, you say? I expect to see you leading the way down Frat Row in a big yellow bird suit. That's right, Big Bird. Shake ya' tail feather.
...And Document It
I have always failed at the giddy "OMG let's take a picture" game. I think I owe almost all documentation of the past three years of my life to sorority sisters. But even I am going to try to pull it together with the Nikon next term. "Bring your camera everywhere you go!!" Erika scolded me. "All of a sudden, a trip to FoCo or baking brownies in that nasty dorm kitchen are Kodak-worthy. Trust me, otherwise you'll forget some of the best tiny moments."
Get yourself off campus!
Every ex-senior I contacted stressed this one "Do something spontaneous in the Upper Valley," said Laura Pearlstein '07. "Take off for an afternoon by the ocean in Portsmouth, or skip a 10A to canoe on the Connecticut -- anything that a job and urban living will prevent in the future." Lorraine Buhannic '07 agreed. "There are tons of fun things to visit and I especially liked all the cheese, ice-cream, donut factories and breweries," she said. "It's a really fun way to hang out with your friends off campus and make some great memories." Really, how can we say we go to school in the middle of nowhere when we're right next to the home of Cabot cheese?
Make New Friends
Sometimes I look around Collis (like, right now) and think, "Dear God. This. School. Is. Too. Small." Despite all assumptions to the contrary, however, recent grads say you can -- and do -- meet new people throughout the last term. "You make friends up to the very end," said Shala Byers '07. A current senior, wishing to remain anonymous to preserve her dignity, takes a slightly different view of potential new acquaintances: "Remember -- the underclassmen boys are an untapped resource!". And if you fail to "tap that," you can always move on to professors (as friends, people... sheesh). "Take a favorite prof out for lunch or coffee to say thanks, especially if you've been intimidated to hang out with them outside of class," said Erika. "In just a few weeks, you may not have such easy access to brilliant people who care about you!" Wow. That's incredibly depressing.
Expect lows with the highs
As we upperclassmen all know, the easiest way to ruin sophomore summer is to overestimate its awesomeness. Entering the other most talked-about term of our College career, we face the same peril. "Try not to think of everything as your 'last,'" said Lorraine. "Your Dartmouth experience stretches beyond your time here as a student; thinking of this term as a transitional period rather than the end makes it a lot more fun."
"Every last moment of senior spring will not be spectacular, and that's okay," Shala agreed. After all, we don't cling to our college experience because it was perfect. We cling to it because, after making it through our f*ck ups and break downs, it was a damn sweet ride. So rest up over spring break, my '08 compatriots. We've got ten weeks to tap that.
I meant Dartmouth! Honestly.
Jean Ellen is a staff writer for The Mirror. She'll miss Collis most after graduation.
