Our parents have a unique perspective on our time at the College. They see our time here only in snapshots, whereas we live it continuously. Because of this, they can see how we've changed much more easily than we can. I decided to ask my mom what she noticed about the students she saw at the halfway point in their Dartmouth careers.
The first thing we're all finally settled. The last time our parents saw us all as a class was for First-Year Family Weekend. A lot of the typical college questions that parents asked were still unanswered at that time even "What's your major?" Some of us had it all figured out, but others were still feeling their way around different departments. Now we're all settled by requirement, as it were into majors. Sure, some may be changed over the next couple years, but at least we have an idea.
Another key part of this settling for many of us has been joining a Greek house. Not only does that fix a part of our identity, but it also cements a group of friends and, for many of us, a physical house to call home.
The second thing that my mom noticed was that the prospect of the real world has officially hit us. Corporate recruiting for Winter term internships brought that reality banging on our door. Students in our class are walking from interview to interview, dressed in the nicest clothes they've ever worn. We're getting ready for a life outside of the classroom. Still, we have to remember college is a paradise of fun. We have an obligation to take advantage of it.
Not as faithful to the power of fun, our parents asked us and our friends questions over First-Year Family Weekend about majors and extracurriculars and Greek houses. But by Sophomore Family Weekend those questions have been replaced by the big question: "what do you want to do with your life?"
It's cruel, really. Right as we're becoming most comfortable at Dartmouth and having the most fun, we have to start unsettling ourselves. Trips to Career Services will become commonplace, and our resumes will become polished. That much is basically inevitable. But what we do with our next two years here is up to us.
There's a delicate balance that we need to work to maintain. On the one hand, the next two years are ostensibly the last time we're going to be surrounded by peers and friends and be allowed to have fun every day. On the other hand, the work that we do in the next two years, both in the classroom and out, can put us either on track for a lifetime of happy and fulfilling work, or leave us without the credentials and self-knowledge to properly pursue our dreams.
My mom also noticed that the students at Dartmouth are the happiest she's ever seen them in my two years here. Some of that must be the extrinsic magic of sophomore summer, but some of it must be intrinsic, as well. We might be having a bit too much fun right now, but we are somewhere in the right balance of work and play. And it's showing.
It seems simple to say, but it's a lesson that we'd all do well to remember if we want to graduate without any serious regrets on our conscience a proper combination of work and play is going to be necessary for us to get the most out of our remaining time at Dartmouth. So for every two parts work, be sure to balance it out with one part fun.
