Maha Malik '13 Islamabad, Pakistan
Malik did not attend the Dimensions show, participate on a DOC First-Year Trip or rush. She did not stay on campus for sophomore summer.
But despite straying from "what the pamphlet told me to do," she says she remains one of Dartmouth's biggest fans.
"There's no such thing as a conventional Dartmouth experience," she said. "I'm going to be one of those sentimental alums when I graduate, but I didn't do a lot of the things that perhaps you think you must do as a Dartmouth student."
During winter break her sophomore year, Malik participated in a Tucker Foundation program that took her to Nicaragua, where she helped build a school in an isolated community.
After long workdays, the student group examined their impact.
"We would sit and talk about everything we experienced," she said. "The conversations on the issues that communities face around the world, that was enlightening for me."
This year, Malik and 24 other members of the Class of 2013 were Rockefeller Leadership Fellows, an experience she called the "capstone" of her Dartmouth career.
"I got to spend a year with other really accomplished Dartmouth seniors and learn about their leadership styles, how they want to translate things they've done on campus to things they'll do in the real world," she said.
After graduation, Malik will work at Bain and Company in Boston. She said hopes to later go to business school and return to Pakistan.
Though she said she will miss her interactions with professors, her favorite memory is the snowball fight on the Green last winter.
"I remember thinking, What other point in my life am I going to be a kid again?'" she said. "At Dartmouth, you get to be an adult. You get to sit in a room with an accomplished professor and talk about monetary policy, but you get to go on the Green at midnight and throw snow at random people and have a good time with your friends."
Jaymes Sanchez '13 San Antonio, Texas
Sanchez, who studied English and government, has immersed himself in theater on campus. He directed and acted in Shakespeare's "Othello" this spring.
Over sophomore summer, Sanchez' work in "Faking It," a play by Laura Neill '13, helped him realize his love for acting and directing.
"It's all brought to life by students," he said. "I think that it says a lot on what we as students are capable of artistically."
Sanchez said he will not miss Dartmouth's quarter system, which made him feel like certain pieces of the creative process were "left on the table."
"There's always more you could do with a little bit more rehearsal, more things that you can unlock and find in the text as you go along," he said.
Next year, Sanchez will work toward his master's in teaching at Brown University and will teach English at Brown Summer High School. He eventually hopes to bring a Shakespeare project he co-created for Upper Valley youth to urban areas.
"We taught them everything they needed to know about A Midsummer Night's Dream,' rehearsed it and performed in front of their friends and family," he said.
Sanchez called "Othello" a "culminating experience."
"The thing I'll remember most is taking that last deep breath and letting out that sigh of relief with some good friends," he said.
He advised underclassmen to not be consumed by rejections, adding that failing at some point is bound to happen.
James Lee '13 Fairfax, Va.
Lee's introduction to the College during DOC First-Year Trips led to a lasting commitment with the organization.
"I met one of my best friends on my DOC trip," he said, calling the program an "amazing opportunity" to meet other students.
Since then, he has worked as an H-Croo member and a trip leader for the program.
Lee recalled a night over sophomore summer on Moosilauke Ravine Lodge's leech field, where a group of friends decided to stargaze and ended up falling asleep.
"It got so cold," he said. "I can't believe we did that."
Lee advised underclassmen to try to capture their experiences.
"I don't have a lot of tangible things to remember the experience by," he said.
Lee studied government and geography and will work for Teach For America in Houston for two years.
Luca Molnar '13Jersey City, N.J.
Molnar, originally from Hungary, studied studio art and will intern in the studio art department next year, hoping to earn enough money to return to Hungary, visit family members and continue making art.
Her passion for art drove her through four years at the College.
"The community you find among artists is something that doesn't really exist in other areas on campus," she said. "There's a sort of realness that I don't see as much in other areas."
Molnar was pre-med for her first two terms at the College.
"I didn't think art was something I wanted to do," she said.
Little moments will define her time at the College, she said.
"The things that are most valuable and most impactful are the times when it's one in the morning and you find someone in the studio," she said. "It all kind of builds up."
Molnar advised underclassmen to question Dartmouth's social structures. She said she has observed a "culture of anti-intellectualism," where students tend to not question their environment.
"Accept nothing," she said. "There are no reasons things have to be the way they are. There's a tendency here to want to fit in."
She gave this challenge to her fellow graduates.
"Be creative in what you do," she said. "Be creative in your career path and your life path. We have a tendency to latch onto the first clear-cut thing. Embrace the uncertainty."
