We're about to be juniors in college still '12s, yes, but juniors. I don't think we use that terminology enough. Although identifying ourselves by our class years at the College fosters a feeling of unity and togetherness, it does let us forget how fast we are progressing through these crazy four years.
Coming to the end of sophomore Summer a term that has been built up to near-mythical proportions over the past two years I find myself asking: Where are we now? Where are we all going? Although I have done my best to avoid wishy-washy, life-themed advice columns recently, indulge me in a bit of dissection this time. For the last issue of this term, I want to talk about this Summer.
We were told that sophomore Summer is a time like no other here at Dartmouth. A time to play to camp, to swim, to hike but a time to learn as well to take interesting distributives and to follow more adventurous academic interests. We were told it was a time to experiment, to open up our minds a little.
But above all else, what we were told was that the most important thing we could do these three months was to just get to know each other better. Imagine that a beautiful period of three months to spend having fun, learning interesting things and getting to know incredible people!
I think, and would hope you can agree, that for once the experience has lived up to the hype. Although I am looking forward to interim for some much-needed sleep, the summer really did deliver as promised a lot of new experiences, interesting classes and some serious bonding time with friends. It was a term different from any before, one that combined all the fun, work and camaraderie possible in such a short time.
While the summer may be drawing to a close, this attitude the willingness to take oneself a little less seriously, to enjoy the simple things in life and to pursue academic life with interest and curiosity is something that can and should continue as we get older and move further in our own college careers and in life.
It is interesting that the middle of our college careers should fall on a summer term, that the intersection between the frivolity of the first two years and the realness of the last two should fall on a season traditionally reserved for vacations.
By sophomore Summer, we are torn between an attitude of relative freedom and of responsibility. By circumstance, we are split between the urge to enjoy summer fun and the necessity to keep up with academics. Whether or not you successfully navigated this dichotomy can be answered with how you're feeling right about now about your summer did you get down to the river enough? Do well in your classes?
If you can answer yes to both of these questions, I think you've got it all figured out. Since Summer term is analogous to the sophomore/junior divide, it is also a microcosm for our emerging adulthood. How will we balance recreation and work? Which will be most important? How you lived this summer if you felt you lived it well should be how you live the rest of your life.
I guess what I really want to impart to you is that, wherever you find yourself in a year, five years, 10 years make sure you know what's important. Skip class or work (once in a while) to go swimming with a friend or loved one. Stay up too late just to spend time with people you like. Get so engulfed in something you actually care about that you forget to do busywork. Do what you would have done this term, and I think you'll be all right.
Things are about to get real. Any way you slice it, the future is slamming down on us faster than we can process it. This summer, suspended in this weird Dartmouth tradition, we were able to hold off that tide for just a while and to find a bit of paradise while still managing the kinds of responsibilities that lie ahead.
Don't lose the summer. Don't file it away under "those were the days." Remember these three months we had in the woods of New Hampshire, and recreate it wherever you go. Life is fun.
