Convocation Reaction

The tradition of convocation at Dartmouth has gone on for two hundred and forty three years. That is two hundred and forty three college presidents, noted students, and deans conjuring up their best encouragement and guidance for the incoming class. This year, President Hanlon was no different. Hanlon’s impassionate delivery of advice and so-called inspiring words felt as spent as his academic robe falling haphazardly off of his shoulder. The theme of his advice was to find what “turns you on,” a reference to the gifted Thomas Edison and his invention of the light bulb. Hanlon, along with the majority of past speakers, asks students to change the world, to leave Dartmouth a different and vastly improved place than it was when they entered it. Large-scale change isn’t always conceivable and the responsibility to accomplish the dreams and expectations of others is overwhelming. As if the pressures of being an Ivy League student aren’t prominent enough, the arduous advice being thrust upon students begins to feel less like helpful guidance and more like a crushing burden. It is valuable of course to recognize that these orators and advisors have only the best intentions when counseling us on how to spend these few precious years at this amazing institution. Despite their motivational exterior it often feels as though each speech is encompassing the speakers remorse of how they failed to live out their college experience how they might have wished. These advice givers are instead pushing their aspirations onto future generations,