In 2012, Dartmouth's freshman retention rate was the fourth highest in the nation, with an impressive 97.8 percent of first-year students returning to campus for a sophomore attempt at the Still North. This number is often considered a reflection of student satisfaction, and as such, it seems that we are amongst the happiest of college students in the United States. The validity of such an assumption, however, has recently been called into question by the protests that occurred this spring, and by widely publicized displays of malcontent amongst the student body.
My freshman year, I very nearly became one of just over 2 percent who declined to return for a second iteration in Hanover. I felt that Dartmouth had been vastly misrepresented to me and that I was simply a poor fit for the College. And while I felt enormously out of place, I very rarely felt as though I had the right to express such feelings to the majority of my peers. Everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives, and I was certainly in no position to burden them with my personal misgivings. I was convinced that opinions about Dartmouth were purely binary one either loved it and embraced it in its entirety, or disliked everything at the College and left.
But such an assumption seemed inherently flawed, even to me. There absolutely existed aspects of Dartmouth that I adored. My friends were phenomenal, I very much enjoyed my classes and I lived in the midst of a wilderness that was wonderfully different from the scenery provided in Texas. But I also took issue with other parts of Dartmouth. Somehow, in my naivet, I was utterly incapable of reconciling the positive and negative components of our school, and could not recognize that the two could coexist, both in my mind and in reality.
I chose to remain at Dartmouth in large part because I was terrified of the possibility of finding the same problems elsewhere. I would have left in search of perfection, and quickly came to the conclusion that I would not find it. So instead, I stayed, and decided that even if I could not change my environment, I could change the way in which I interacted with it. Though I had often dismissed such an attitude as one of acquiescence, I decided to reexamine an old idea through a new lens. Acceptance is not defeat, and conflating the two is inaccurate.
But at Dartmouth, it seems that such conflations run rampant, particularly when it comes to reproach. Criticism is often misconstrued as judgment, and as such, it is especially difficult to suggest change without simultaneously insinuating that the current system is an absolute disaster. Dartmouth exists in a world of hyperbole and polarity, where one is either part of the solution or part of the problem, and this aspect of our culture seems to be our greatest impediment to productive dialogue and progress. But inherent to truly loving an institution is a consistent and unmovable desire for constant improvement. What is so perfect about our Dartmouth that we cannot imagine a better one?
Frustration implies commitment. We cannot be frustrated by things that we care nothing about, and it is not only acceptable to occasionally be plagued by feelings of great exasperation, dissatisfaction and even infuriation with the College it is necessary. It provides the impetus for new energy, new ideas and new directions that allow Dartmouth to grow and accurately reflect its students, faculty and administration. This is the responsibility of all members of the Dartmouth community past and present, old and new. There is no shame in wanting more, not only for us, but also for our school.
Dartmouth students love Dartmouth, it is true. Such a sentiment is echoed every day and is one of the most attractive aspects of our school. But if I might offer a piece of advice to our incoming freshmen, to the members of the Class of 2017 who are the latest to join our ranks, it would be the following: Don't be afraid to be unhappy and to find out why. You are not betraying the College by doing so in fact, you are doing it an enormous favor. Allow yourself to question, to challenge and to discover for yourself what Dartmouth is and what Dartmouth should be. After all, in the end, it's up to us.
