Ask any Dartmouth student about their plans for the future, and you’re bound to get a definitive answer: “I’m going to go to law school,” or “Oh, I’m thinking of working in consulting.” As a freshman not yet used to the quirks of campus culture, I’ve found myself surprised by the certainty with which so many of my peers discuss what comes next. Dartmouth students don’t need to have it all planned out. Just look at Ben Rice ’22.
As a freshman on the baseball team in 2018, Rice received little attention for his work on Red Rolfe Field. A 2019 article in The Dartmouth about first-year talent on the baseball team devoted a grand total of 12 words to Rice. Another referred to him even more sparingly, going only as far as mentioning his “potential on offense.” His first year, Rice started just 18 of 41 games — 12 of which were as a catcher.
In 2020, his sophomore year, Rice started seven games before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the Ivy League baseball season. That was it for Rice’s experience playing college ball: one home run and a .242 average in 99 at-bats.
After the season was cancelled, Rice played workouts on high school fields and organized games with no umpires. Upon the cancellation of the second season in a row, Rice played for the Braintree White Sox of the Cranberry Baseball League. At 22 years old, he was playing in a league composed mostly of players in their 30s and 40s.
Rice was selected by the New York Yankees in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB draft with the 363rd overall pick. He was a lottery ticket, essentially; no team expects anything big from a 12th-round pick. He spent four seasons climbing through the Yankees’ minor league affiliates, from the Rookie-Level Florida Complex League Yankees in 2021 all the way to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders in 2024.
Then, after just 11 games with the Railriders, Rice was promoted to “the show” in June 2024, filling in for injured first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Drafted and developed as a catcher, he stepped in at first base: an uncharted path, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Rice finally had a chance to prove himself in the major leagues. But after some brief flashes of glory, he was demoted back to the Triple-A Rail Riders thanks to a 2-for-40 slump. Just like that, he was back in the minors for the remainder of the 2024 season.
After changing his swing — reinventing his game for a second time — Rice worked harder than ever for the 2024-25 offseason, proving himself with a strong spring training performance and ending up back in the majors.
The rest is history. 2025 was a breakout season, and 2026 has been a stellar one. This season alone, Rice was a 2026 MLB All-Star and the American League Player of the Week for May 25 to May 31. He hit .264/.363/.534 with 41 home runs and 97 RBIs over 154 games.
On Sept. 29, in the first game of the American League Wild Card series, Rice had four hits, including one solo home run and one grand slam. On Oct. 5, Rice was also named a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award, which recognizes regular season offensive excellence.
Over just three years in the majors, Rice quickly became one of Dartmouth’s most prominent 21st century alumni in athletics. Students today can learn much from his uncharted path.
Dartmouth is an environment uniquely suitable for exploration. Want to change your major as a senior? Sure, why not. Looking to shop classes for weeks at a time? Go ahead. Trying an event in a field other than your own? Of course. Yet we too often expect 18-year-old students to show up with their paths meticulously planned out.
Rice is a striking counterexample. As Rice told Yankees Magazine, “I didn’t really know what I was practicing for” during the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet he kept working. Practice for practice’s sake, not for any set path, is what brought him to the major leagues. It’s easy to watch Rice casually hit homers in the playoffs and think that this was his destiny from the start. But his path was never certain, and he earned his destination through effort and diligence.
Rice’s teammates describe him as a man of determination. “If I just keep focusing on that” drive, he told MLB.com, “the results will eventually follow.”Ambition brought Rice to the Bronx, and it brought you to Hanover. Don’t abandon your ambition, but don’t let the future dominate the present.
I don’t know what my Yankee Stadium is. At 19 years old, though, I don’t have to. That’s not why we’re here. Uncertainty is not a negative, and neither is changing course.
So when the competitive campus culture starts to get to you, turn on ESPN, see the smiling, pinstripe-clad Big Green alum behind the plate and remember that life is full of surprises.
Graham Heft is a member of the Class of 2030. Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
