Coming to Dartmouth from the West Coast certainly has its disadvantages. Never seeing your family or high school friends gets pretty old quick (oh hey, D-plan). But it has its advantages too. Take Parents' Weekend, for example I get to eat with OTHER people's families on what I've dubbed the "parents circuit," a Christmas-Hannukah-all-you-can-eat bar on someone else's tab.
So there I was, after my third free meal (thanks Rob Szypko), feeling super bloated from two days of any sort of food other than the usual Collis pasta or Hop Queso. All the A-side kids were playing pong, doing corporate networking or chatting on First Floor Berry with their parents. I was feeling a little out of the loop, so I decided to hit the gym. I figured I'd do some light treadmilling, but more importantly, try not to see anyone lest I get asked that embarrassing question, "Do ur parents not love u lol?"
After arriving at the gym, though, I realized that EVERYONE was there freaking full capacity. There was even a line for the bench press!
Not to be deterred, I decided to go on a bike ride outside. It was like a horror film. Smiling Dartmouth students jogging and biking and canoeing EVERYWHERE. Occum Pond, the Green, the river, the stacks (yeah I'm calling you out stair-stepper). So I asked myself why was everyone so... HEALTHY???
It certainly has something to do with the culture of our school, ingrained in us ever since we arrived as wide-eyed freshmen. Dartmouth has a reputation as that "outdoors-y super-active school where kids climb trees and ski and play sports' at frats and stuff" -prep school kid '15.
Croo makes us sing and dance to songs over 150 BPMs, while raising our heart rate by scaring the shit out of us. We choose to participate in an outdoor trip and during orientation we play capture the melon. Approximately 99.9 percent of students are on some sort of team, and students kill themselves to join groups like SHEBA and ski patrol. No one drives to class, TV is nonexistent and the arrival of snow is synonymous with "winter sports galore." We play lots of (ping) pong and abuse the Collis salad bar. Oh yeah and we even have a PE requirement.
But what really entails "healthy"? In my opinion it's not just a physical entity. The World Health Organization (what up JYK!) defines it as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
Ok, so pretty much it's like the idea of GYM, TAN, LAUNDRY (GTL), made famous by the "Jersey Shore."
GTL is a philosophy a metaphor for a good life. GTL represents an active life (gym) that embraces the environment (tan) and of course stays fresh (laundry).
Dartmouth students are healthy in the sense that they know how to strike that GTL balance. We do the things we like along with all those things we don't like but need to take care of. We are well-balanced, we are members of multiple organizations, we aren't limited by others' opinions and we (insert college admissions propaganda here).
I'll admit that sometimes students can be overindulgent (what up counterpoint!). But isn't that the philosophy of GTL? Or should I say HSR -- hike, study, rage? We may wreck ourselves over masters, but we also wreck ourselves to do the 50 or do well in our classes.
I'd be willing to venture that the balance we have in Hanover isn't found at many other schools.
Snookie would be proud.
