College

Growing up in New York City always made me feel like a small fish in a big pond. This got me thinking about my life in Hanover, NH or life as a brown fish in a white pond. I am not going to lie: Dartmouth really took me out of my comfort zone and it was a daunting task to adjust to rural life. I grew up where I could find food joints open past 2:10 AM, shop at stores not named The Gap, use public transportation that works at least ½ the time (that’s right, there is transportation system worse than the MTA) and other minute details that I really took for granted.

I think people need to get out of their comfort zones and try new things. A friend once told me, “College is the one time in your life where you can try bizarre things and attribute them to the College aura.” This is the most opportune time in your life to study abroad, binge drink and play Frisbee. If you want to have a contest to see who can put the most cheese puff balls in their mouth or if you want to want to smoke salvia (legal in the US, fyi), then seize the opportunity. People won’t judge you for doing stupid shit because they have probably done a lot of idiotic things themselves. And if they do judge you, screw ‘em; remember Dr. Seuss’ famous quote: “Be who you are and say what you feel because those mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”

Dartmouth has provided me with so much intangible experience that I am actually grateful to go to school in the woods. From joining a fraternity whose letters are better recognized as a white supremacist group (read: Ku Klux Klan) than the Greek organization itself to running around a 40 foot bonfire 112 times, I have really attempted to be an adventurous person. By no stretch of the imagination am I condoning placing “risk taking” above schoolwork; I am simply advocating doing things that you don’t foresee yourself doing in the future. So far I have jumped off a ledge into a pond when I can’t even swim, lived with an Italian family for 11 weeks even though at first I couldn’t even say something as simple as “Can you please pass the bread” and logged countless number of hours dancing on a wooden table with some of my best friends. Be spontaneous because “all the crazy shit [you] did tonight, those would be best memories.” (David Guetta, Memories)

Make the most of your four years. I sure as hell am trying to. So I guess this post is my way of saying: “Thank you Dartmouth. You were more than just a school.”