Dartmouth Deserves Great Press

carlyrose1
Tue, 10 Jun 2014 23:34:28 +0000

My daughter and her friends had four wonderful years. Her education has been stellar, her opportunities limitless,her friendships life-enhancing, and her career path developed. My husband and I will miss the visits to the beautiful campus; the acapella shows; visits to the art museum; and the knowledge that our daughter is safe and secure at a second home where many people care about her.
As we reflect on our daughter’s four years at Dartmouth, the word that comes to mind is GENEROSITY. From the moment she arrived on campus, there were people (with funny clothes on and dyed hair) to greet her. Orientation trips were carefully planned to orient her and her peers with humor, tradition, and the enormous generosity of meticulous planning. From her arrival, she found many generous and interesting people to join her in studying, exploring, exercising, relaxing, and supporting one another. I think that Admissions does a terrific job of choosing, bright, nice, interesting, generous students.Our daughter’s friends are from all over, of different backgrounds, religions and interests, but all wonderful people.
Dartmouth is repeatedly rated number one in undergraduate teaching for a reason. Whenever our daughter needed help, her professors took the time to meet with her. They were generous in giving of themselves, as were TAs and classmates who studied and reviewed with her. Her peers shared notes and cared for each other. There were endless opportunities to travel abroad, to work in labs, to earn money as a tutor, an intern, or a notetaker. To deepen knowledge in her major, and to learn completely new things. She was lucky enough to work in a lab and also in a prison, the latter through a women and gender studies class. She volunteered with autistic children, and with Alzheimer’s patients. Our extended family is shocked and pleased that no less than five professors joined us at her graduation dinner. She has even received Dartmouth grants to support her volunteer efforts post-graduation.
Our daughter’s professors and advisors went beyond the call of duty in a manner so superb it is hard to imagine better. Everyone from deans to housekeepers in the dorms to nurses in Dick’s House were available and kind. Of course, my daughter has engaged others generously herself, worked very hard, and taken advantage of the many opportunities available. Yet there were far too many opportunities offered for her to participate in them all.
This may sound like the one-sidedness of a sentimental mother of a recent grad, and it is. Still, I am not naive to some things that could be improved, or the fact that others have different experiences. However, I am deeply grateful for a president, trustees, administrators, and faculty who care and move toward improvement while trying to preserve the best of this generous place.