A few weekends ago, I had one of my more memorable Dartmouth experiences -- I sat on a bench.
When I left the warm fraternity basement and ventured out into the biting fall air, I'm sure the people I was with thought I was either lame or going to meet a girl. But they were wrong on both counts: I was leaving where all the fun was for a different experience, one that I thought would, by now, be more common in my life at Dartmouth -- having good conversation.
I have found that basements are great for many purposes, but enlightening discussion
is not one of them. Thus, after a few minutes of attempted conversation with a friend, we decided to head out for a bit of peace. As it was late, I don't quite recall how we left the fraternity, but we managed to find some old wooden benches set back in the woods to sit down on. We settled in, and over the next hour and a few contemplative bowls of the pipe (tobacco, Dean Remy!), we had what amounted to a great conversation.
In choosing colleges, the people were one of my biggest considerations. I knew I wanted to spend the next four years somewhere with genuinely smart and interesting people who I could learn from and be inspired by. With this in mind, I chose Dartmouth -- a place I knew was filled with some of the most intelligent, accomplished and fun people alive. I see around me every day people who have backpacked across India, starred in movies and raised themselves. The problem is that, while all of us here at Dartmouth have a story to tell, we rarely get the time to simply sit down on a bench and share it.
As accomplished, motivated and driven college students, we take part in a system that encourages over-booking. It seems every one of us reacts to the myriad of clubs and sports offered at our College by trying to be involved in as many of them as possible. At the wave of a pen we are forever Blitzed by organizations ranging from Sustainable Dartmouth to the Dartmouth Union of Bogglers (I'm going to make it to a meeting one day, guys). Availability preys on our motivation and we end up on the Blitz list for 15 organizations, being interested in six and going to meetings for three. Add these to the club or varsity sports half of us play, the intensive academic workload and the Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday party scene, and we hardly have time to sleep, let alone engage in intelligent discourse. Though I love Dartmouth and the opportunities it offers, I think that from time to time, we all need to pause for a moment and take advantage of Dartmouth's greatest resource -- our classmates.
Liberal arts education should be centered on the mutual intellectual growth you gain from the interaction with those learning around you. You learn so much more in an interesting hour-long conversation about a class than you would learn from the class itself. Likewise, by simply sitting down and talking with someone you know about their experiences, their aspirations or their thoughts, you can learn more than you would from any philosophy class. We need to fine more time in our breakneck schedules to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge at the lunch table.
Rather than sit around and talk about how busy you are, ask questions. Rather than going out every Monday and Wednesday, take a night easy and get into a spirited conversation about the philosophy of "The Big Lebowski" or how one life experience informed your personal outlook. We shouldn't have to restrict our intelligence to classes or clubs centered on discussion. I know there are fellow conversationalists out there who manage to find time to discuss with their peers, and that there's a chance I am just not rolling in the right circles. Whatever the case, though, the benefits of conversation and learning from one another are universal to every social group.
I'm not writing to suggest some sweeping change to College policy or to say that student involvement in extracurricular activities is inherently flawed. I love the way Dartmouth is so involved and passionate in so many ways. The students here are amazing -- driven and accomplished in every way. I just think that we, as a campus, need to recognize that being busy all the time isn't some standard of achievement we should strive for. We should get involved, yes. But there is something to be said for leisure and informal conversation. So next time you're out on Frat Row or just walking along the Green, grab a friend and a bench. You'll probably learn something.
