And How Are We Getting There?
Ah, Green Key. What could be better than a weekend full of “traditions and debauchery,” right? But as we emerge from the drunken haze of this particular Dartmouth tradition, which at this point is just an excuse to drink heavily, we have to ask ourselves, why exactly are we here at Dartmouth? The parties, the booze, the “cute boys/girls” (in all senses of that combination) all make sense in their way…but, barring a few exceptions, one should hardly expect these reasons alone to have driven us towards Dartmouth. So, what was it? Was it the liberal arts education? Was it because it was expected of us? Was it because we needed it for the cushy jobs we wanted in the future? Each person you ask is likely to give a different answer that varies depending on the time of day.
The reality is that each of us arrives at Dartmouth with our own expectations and aspirations. It does us little good to try to speculate why our younger, more naïve selves decided to choose the way we did. So let us turn instead to the normative. What should Dartmouth be giving us, for all the time and money we pour into this place? What should be the purpose of Dartmouth?
