You are not special. You do not leave a big hole. They dig a hole and put you in it.
Those words, spoken impossibly elegantly by Garrison Keillor ushered me into my senior year at Dartmouth. As I drove up to Hanover from Long Island on a perfect late September afternoon, I listened to Keillor's manifesto Homegrown Democrat audiobook and realized the most important lessons I had learned at Dartmouth, I had known all along.
I am not special. I am poorer than many Americans and richer than many more. I am of average intelligence more or less and not all that great looking. But here's the kicker: neither are you.
What I learned at Dartmouth was that I already have the things I value most in the world. They are, in no particular order, the ability to laugh at oneself, humility and the capacity for love.
Laughing.
When we first showed up for DOC trips we all laughed along with HCroo's songs and antics. Later we learn that being on a Croo is no laughing matter. In fact, it involves the two things we take sooooo seriously: exclusivity and facetime. We learn Croo members try to put their participation on resumes as if being a glorified clown for two weeks is a legitimate work experience. Can't we just lighten up and have a good laugh (even at our own expense) instead of making everything such a big deal?
Our collective inability to take a joke makes us humorless warriors for political correctness. So what if Chi Gam sends a blitz to freshmen guys about getting blow jobs and handjobs? Let's get off our high horses for a minute and think about it. Most of us have given or received blow jobs, hand jobs, or female equivalents during our time here. And most of the time, those are pretty awesome. So instead of being so quick to find a cause, why don't we stop and think that maybe we're just scared of what we really think that we DO have those thoughts and maybe they're not meant to be offensive but just plain funny.
Humility.
You will not change the world. No one does, really. Some of the big names we quote on Facebook profiles (think: Gandhi) chip away at the evil in the world, but no one can change human nature. There is still racism, there is still sexism, there are still poor people and rich people, good people and mean people. That's life. That's our great big world and the best we can do is be kind in our own ways and try not to hurt anyone.
The universe is completely indifferent to you. The world will not be changed. That's the nature of it. It doesn't matter which Croo you were on, which house you were in or how many committees you chaired, you are an inconsequential dot in the grand scheme of things.
Depressing? Nope. In fact, I don't think you can really begin to live until you accept that fact.
We have a handful of years in the infinite timespan of the universe to be happy. That's our only goal. To be happy and not hurt anyone too badly along the way.
Love.
The key to being happy is knowing what you love. I know what makes me happy: Companionship, good books, food and wine. I also like kittens, shopping and pretty things in nature as long as I don't have to walk too far to see them.
I want to be a teacher so I can hopefully inspire a few more people to like books too and so I can have summers off. I don't want to make a fortune and I don't want to write the history books. I want to get married and have someone to make dinner for. It's not something I would have ever said four years ago when I was an ambitious high school senior, but it's something I know is more important to me now than ever. I want good friends to share a glass of wine with at the end of the day. I want kittens and puppies who get along. Is that too much to ask?
Our time here at Dartmouth and also in the greater sense of "here" being life is limited. So don't stress out about it. Don't spend too much time padding your resume, then trying to get the right internship or the perfect job. It doesn't matter and neither do you.
