The presidential election is over. Halloween, come and gone. Rush drama, a small spot in the rearview mirror. The first substantial snowfall is likely weeks away. November stretches ahead of us, vast and empty, with Thanksgiving the only light at the end of the tunnel.
As I glumly tossed my room key on the dresser last Saturday -- after a night of walking from empty frat to empty frat in a depressing drizzle, wondering if perhaps Gabrielle Tudin '12 ("Take Back the (Saturday) Night," Sept. 30) had a point after all -- something caught my eye: "101 Things to do Before You Graduate from Dartmouth," compiled by Nora Ward '08. I had tacked the poster up on my wall in the excitement of orientation and long since forgotten about it.
Four things had eagerly been checked off, and I laughed, remembering the type-A enthusiasm with which many of my fellow '12s and I had jumped on the poster's challenge. Give a bunch of overachievers a to-do list, and the results are almost as inevitable as those that ensue when you give a mouse a cookie. I'm pretty sure we all expected to be done as soon as the first snow made sledding (No. 33), skiing (No. 58) and snowball fights (No. 73) possible.
But it didn't take long for our innocent high school eagerness to give way to cynical Dartmouth crustiness. Just like all the classes that have come before us, we no longer wonder what, exactly, makes frat basement floors so sticky. We don't bat an eyelash when someone fishes a pong ball out of the garbage and proceeds to sink it in the other side's cup. Sometimes, we don't do our homework. We've even slept through class. Would our high school selves even recognize us?
As I began to look closer at the poster, though, I felt the stirring of that excitement that was so abundant in my naive, idealistic orientation days, when the potential of the next four years shone before me. The list embodies the variety and spirit of Dartmouth life. It highlights all the things that make Dartmouth unique, from the traditions (see No. 6: run around the bonfire, and No. 8: touch Bentley's nose for good luck) to the opportunities that make up practically half the list: visiting the art gallery at the Hopkins Center (No. 25), renting a DOC cabin (No. 59) and researching something that fascinates you on Dartmouth's dime (No. 94). Then there are Nos. 39, 40 and 41, which pay homage to the infamous Arctic winter conditions students love to hate, and No. 2, which is a nod to our inexplicable obsession with 2:09 a.m. EBAs. Numbers 89 and 90 -- cheer at any Dartmouth references and memorize the alma mater -- speak to the extraordinary school spirit that binds all Dartmouth students, past and present, to the Dartmouth community.
Surveying the list, which could just as accurately be titled, "101 Reasons There's No Place Like Dartmouth," my disappointment over one bad night seemed silly. This brings me back to the bleak prospects of November.
What's a Dartmouth student to do? Why not take this time to rediscover Dartmouth, with the sagacious Ms. Ward as your guide. The tasks range from the dauntingly demanding (see No. 55: major in something you love) to the patent no-brainers (No. 96: hope it snows) and fall everywhere in between.
So when you're trudging through the next two weeks, struggling to find your will to live as you fight off your third illness of the term and battle to keep up with professors attempting to squeeze in every drop of information possible before finals, consider attending an AGORA dinner (No. 93), asking to see something interesting in Rauner library (No. 36) or climbing Gile Mountain and its fire tower before the last bits of beautiful fall foliage are gone (No. 101). You just might be reminded that being at Dartmouth makes all the tough stuff worth it.
And besides, you know your inner overachiever is ready to destroy that list.
