Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #16 Penn on March 22, 2025 , Win , 9, to, 8 , OT
Final
Men's Lacrosse
at #16 Penn
9
8
Why Dartmouth ?
10/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Why Dartmouth ?
I've been asked the question dozens of times. Why did you choose Dartmouth? I chose Dartmouth for several reasons but I have come to love Dartmouth for many more. The college is nested between the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Connecticut River. Surrounded by unbelievable beauty in each of the four seasons, the town of Hanover is quaint, cozy and welcoming.
When I hear friends from home talk about their schools, both Ivy League and state schools, I always notice that the people and experiences they are describing just are not as interesting or fun as what my friends and I have experienced at Dartmouth. So why do we fall in love with it? For one, I don't think there is a college or university in the world that has a student body that is more intelligent, active and genuinely cool than those at Dartmouth. Everyone has a wide variety of interests. The girl you think only loves shopping, actually just climbed a nearby mountain yesterday afternoon and volunteers with underprivileged children in the area twice a week. The guy who sits in the first chair of the wind symphony is also the captain of a varsity sport....and he also climbed a nearby mountain yesterday.
Now, that's not to say that we're all a bunch of crunchy kids who eat granola and climb mountains, although there are those of us who do that. It is simply that the location of Hanover acts as its own filter for the kind of students who are attracted to Dartmouth: smart, active young men and women who love to have fun, and there is plenty of fun to be had on and around campus.
The Dartmouth Plan (D-Plan) is another thing that really distinguishes Dartmouth from other top-tier schools. The academic calendar is split up into four terms (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) and students take three classes per term. After the spring of sophomore year, all of the sophomores return to campus for “Sophomore Summer.” This was truly the three best three months of my life. Students typically only take two classes and thoroughly enjoy the summer temperatures which are nowhere to be found even in May or September. Being enrolled sophomore summer also allows students to take a different term off, usually either sophomore or junior year. This means they are not enrolled in classes and are doing something of their choosing. Many students choose to get internships in their hometown, others travel, many even choose to stay in Hanover and get a local job here just because they love being at Dartmouth so much.
The last thing I want to talk about is the comradeship which the lacrosse team offers. We are an 
extremely tight and hard working team on and off the field. However, even though we remain a closely-knit group of great guys, everyone also maintains their individuality.
As a fitting close to this statement, Why Dartmouth?, I want to quote John Sloan Dickey, on the topic of the Dartmouth family. On November 9, 1945, only eight days after having taken office as Dartmouth's 12th president, John Sloan Dickey gave his first public address to the College community. The following excerpt is taken from that speech entitled “A Joyful Spirit.”
Some have said that Dartmouth is not a college – that it is a religion. I take it that what is meant by this is that men who have lived together on Hanover Plain believe in Dartmouth. And whatever else may be said, surely that is true and sure that must be
good. . . Some may (and often do) ask, Why do men feel that way about Dartmouth? Is there really any such thing as the Dartmouth spirit? . . . As any good country-man will tell you, you cannot live with a spirit but that spirit gets inside you. However else the Dartmouth spirit may manifest itself, it does give rise to a sense of family, to a sense of belonging to something together. Hovey (writer of Dartmouth's Alma Mater) has done a better job than anyone else in putting it into words. A time comes to almost every man who has lived on this campus, when he sings those words “as brother stands by brother” he suddenly realizes that he belongs to a larger family – and is better for it.
Luke Antal '07
Players Mentioned
M
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