Every fall, all the upperclassmen on campus are amazed at the boisterous energy of the incoming freshmen. From the sudden rush of enthusiasm at student organization meetings to the ballooning lines at the Food Court grill, it's like Dartmouth has just had an infectious injection of raw energy -- people wanting to do something, experience new things and settle into college life all at once. It makes me ashamed at times of my settled routine; it wants to make me try new things, welcome different perspectives on pertinent issues and talk to a whole lot of different people -- and forget their names barely two minutes after.
The beauty of a New England fall (and they don't come any better than at Dartmouth) always catches me reminiscing on my time at Dartmouth. Walking to St. Denis this past Saturday evening, my mind wandered to my time here, evoking the creed that Catholics recite in mass every week -- what I have done and what I have failed to do. After I've completed a project or a task, I always wonder what I could have done better. Perhaps such self-assessment is embodied in the human psyche; maybe regret cannot be completely staved off. But I'd like to offer some of my thoughts to two groups of people on campus that are susceptible to this particular demon.
To the freshmen, enjoy your time at Dartmouth. Soon, you'll be old (or, older) like me, and you will have wished that you could have done more and given that little bit extra in the activities that you were a part of. Try to delve into groups and friends that lie outside of your comfort zone; attend meetings or events that you think you would otherwise detest. Talk to your professors, and be serious about learning. Make the best of Dartmouth's undergraduate emphasis -- my professors, both in the government and economics department, have very much defined my excellent academic experience here; talking to them in both formal and informal settings has endowed me with a wealth of knowledge that I could not have gained from anywhere else.
Don't be apathetic; give everything a try. For the rush of energy that accompanies freshman year -- especially the fall -- only comes once. Soon, you'll be welcoming the '08s onto campus and be hit by a sickening realization that you are a veteran of one year at this college. So many of my friends wish they had made more of their freshman year, or worked less and took the time to experience new things. I plunged into the DOC my first year: going up to the Second College Grant, taking in Franconia Falls -- these are experiences I have never regretted.
To the upperclassmen on campus, it's senior year. Undoubtedly, many of us will leave this campus happy, extremely contented with the academic and outside-of-classroom experience that we have been fortunate to enjoy at Dartmouth. However, there is one last year ahead of us; let's go out with a bang by doing whatever we have to do with gusto. From making a conscious effort to breathe a renewed lease of life into the organizations that we are involved in to stopping to smell the roses with a couple of our friends in good old Food Court.
We have the potential to define our class by what we do this coming year, be it in the arena of student organizations or applying to graduate school and participating in the whole recruiting roller-coaster ride. This is the only year that all your friends are on all year, and I'm sure all of you have experienced a junior year with most of your friends gone for a period of time. Now is the time to catch up, and to reinforce the bonds that will stand your friendships in good stead once everybody moves on from Dartmouth.
All too soon, the leaves will change color and fall to the ground. Then Hanover will be covered in white, sooner that you might expect. And, following a term of wearing puffy clothes and ear-muffs, leaves will grow on their branches and squirrels will once again be ubiquitous on campus in their ever-constant foraging for food. Then, before we can blink twice, seniors who are moving out will be leaving perfectly-good refrigerators and tables outside their dorm, and the graduating class will be donning their commencement gowns. Our feelings then will be very much defined by our memories of what we have done at Dartmouth -- and needless to say, we have one more year to squeeze in all the activities that we want to do.
So, make the most of it, for the fall is going to be over in a flash. Then, all too soon, it'll be the winter, and then the spring. Before we know it, we'll all be standing there with our gowns on, wishing that we could have done more at Dartmouth.
