Editorial: Explore While You Still Have Time

There’s no better time of year to experience Dartmouth than the autumn. The start of a new academic year carries an idyllic optimism, and for me, it feels like a fresher start than the turn of a new year. It is counterintuitive that the time we set aside for resolutions falls in the darkest and most spirit-sapping stretch of the year, which is somewhat anathema to reinvention. Despite all of the introspection that the holiday season allows for, the coldest months of the year are those in which negativity flourishes. As students, we live by a different calendar, and that gives us another choice. Instead, our time for change is one of crisp afternoons, the anticipatory atmosphere of holidays, and an assiduous spirit for the academic journey ahead.

With a new academic journey comes the question of how much else will be new. There are opportunities for academic redirection, new extracurriculars, and perhaps even a new social environment. And yet, all too often, the spirit of the new school year fades, and we settle back into what is secure and familiar: the same routines and the safe choices. Opportunities present themselves, and we choose comfort. And no, I don’t think this is solely due to the weather getting colder.

The fall of any academic year begets ambition, which, by its nature, seeks the surest return, and the surest returns come from those with previous experience to back them up. Ergo, it is only natural that we gravitate towards the academic and extracurricular pursuits in which we already thrive. For all of the personal success that this brings, it carries a cost: the ambition that could carry us on “the road less traveled” instead keeps us where we are. I have seen this firsthand; I came to Dartmouth pursuing classes and clubs that made my experience here a practical extension of my pre-college days; the beginning of the final chapter of my journey at Dartmouth has prompted a great deal of reflection, and yes, some regret. Even as I acknowledge how much I’ve grown from my Dartmouth experiences, there is the lingering question of what else I could’ve pursued. Looking back, the start of Dartmouth was an opportunity to push beyond the limits of what I already knew I was good at. Yet, many of the areas of Dartmouth life that would have piqued my interest early on are ones that I have only recently gotten around to pursuing, and some I have yet to pursue at all, and I am simply running out of time to do so. I am far from the only Dartmouth student to follow this trajectory. The seemingly “dutiful” pull towards one’s own strengths is an unfortunately lackluster engine for personal growth at a time in our lives when we are the most open to change. College is at least as much about personal growth as it is about the classroom. The urge to spontaneously explore interests previously unconsidered is one that, unheeded, is likely to fester into regret, regret that you may never be free from.

None of this is to suggest that we should abandon the things we love simply because they are familiar. I instead would encourage everyone, most especially those new to Dartmouth: Do not sacrifice a burgeoning interest for the sake of continuing the areas in which one is already known to prosper. The start of college is one of the few times in life during which you begin with a blank canvas. Everyone here earned their place in part because they were good at something, probably more than one thing. If you have the ambition to make it to Dartmouth, it’s almost certain that the current version of yourself is not one you think has nothing left to learn. While you have the opportunity, push beyond where you already know that you can thrive. If nothing comes to mind, they could probably still use help building the Homecoming Bonfire, so do that if you haven’t already. And if you’re graduating soon, take advantage of what may be the last time that the arrival of autumn indicates an open door to new beginnings.