When I arranged my D-plan freshman spring I thought the only thing better than four terms at Dartmouth was five. At that time, I was nearing the end of my freshman year and was deeply dreading leaving my friends and freedom and once again living at home. As every college student quickly realizes visiting home is great. Parents give their kids a sort of one or two week grace period in which the child can do no wrong. In fact, the shorter your stay at home the more your parents will do for you. This past spring break I was only home for two days during which I had my bed made twice, six meals cooked for me and my two 50 pound bags of laundry washed and folded. Unfortunately, summers are not like that and the same parents who once treated you as an honored guest, quickly remember you're a part of the family and the laziest member at that.
This is what I was thinking about when I decided to stay on campus all year, but here I am at term four and I am finally finding Hanover too small. Not that Hanover has changed. It's still three blocks long and two wide but somehow that is no longer enough. I find myself craving buildings taller than Baker, a town that does not close at nine on weekends and a populous whose fashions do not mirror the Gap display windows. I think a lot of this unrest comes from the fact that although Dartmouth operates at a more laid back pace in the summer, most of the students do not. For some reason, a midnight Food Court study break make the campus appear alive, but the 8:45 summer equivalent just doesn't have the same effect. There is a similar problem with food selection. I still have a minimum DBA of $450 but nothing to spend it on. Last night at Westside the salad bar consisted of lettuce, broccoli, cheese and dressing. In addition, when asked about the entree the girl behind the counter looked at it, shrugged and said, "It's steak ... I think".
The fact is, although it's Sophomore summer, I'm getting bored. It's the same old variety only less of it and something needs to happen. Maybe we should start doing things as a class again. We've forgotten how to 'shmob.' We need a summer equivalent of the freshman snowball fight. I think as a class we need to have a Battle of the Bands on the Green or a midnight swim in the river or even a class wide food fight on the Collis porch. It doesn't really matter what we do as long as it's something. I propose this challenge to the 2000s. Prove the rhetoric true, make this the best term ever. Or, at least think about the food fight idea -- it's not like you'd actually want to eat any of that stuff any way.
