Take Time To Reflect – Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans

By Julia Plevin '09

Believe it or not, we Dartmouth students become a lot wiser over our four years of college. I cannot express how often I hear the phrase, “if only I knew then what I know now…,” when I am talking to my fellow classmates. In an attempt to garner this wisdom and pass it down to younger students, Skip Sturman-Director of Career Services-created a PowerPoint presentation for parents during First Year Family Weekend entitled, “Ten Things Seniors Wish They Had Known As First Years: A Career Services Perspective”.

One slide listed five things that seniors wished they had done differently in regards to their career searches:
1. Plan ahead
2. Take time to reflect
3. Engage a human
4. Imagine the possibilities and not feel limited by major, employers who come to campus, or internships listed on DartBoard
5. Indulge their passions

While all five nuggets of wisdom are things that I have had to learn on my own after being lured by my peers into the corporate recruiting trap and then feeling lost and confused, I think that the one that is most often overlooked is, “take time to reflect.”

There is so much action packed into every hour of every day of a Dartmouth term. Whether studying, volunteering, playing sports, taking part in extracurricular activities or hanging out with friends, Dartmouth students are among the most over-booked people around. Taking time to sleep is hard enough, let alone taking time to reflect. Once the term starts, there is no blinking or breathing until it stops.

Off-terms and breaks are also typically not used to relax, rejuvenate, and reflect. Instead, students take “free time” to travel to Africa, do research, or work in New York City. Taking time to reflect, even just a few moments each day, does not seem to fit in the Dartmouth schedule.

Since my mom is a yoga teacher, “taking time to reflect” is synonymous with “meditating” for me. Whenever I call and tell her that I am feeling scatter-brained or anxious, she tells me to find a quiet corner and repeat a mantra to myself. However, you do not need to sit in lotus pose wearing Lululemon pants chanting “ommm” in order to take time to reflect. You can just slow down, make some lists and diagrams, write in a journal, or take a hike if you want to reflect.

There is so much pressure to know what you are doing next – whether that is for a break, an off-term, or post-graduation. Taking time to reflect means slowing down and enjoying the adventure. It means not worrying if you don’t have epic spring break plans because you can take the time instead to figure out what is really important to you - what you like and what you dislike – and start to plan for future life adventures.

From talking to alums over Green Key weekend and through the Alumni Stories that I write, I have finally accepted the fact that you can have ideas about what you want, but you cannot plan out your life since the most important decisions will be made due to factors that you are still unaware of.

Here are just a few tidbits from conversations with alums over Green Key:
-“Just don’t rush into anything. Take your time.” – An ’08 who spent the year teaching in Paris
-“Finding a career is like the Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors ¬– if you miss one opportunity, another one will come up and it will lead to a completely different life than you could have imagined.” – A ’74 who is a CEO of an advertising agency in Los Angeles
-“The first five years after college should be spent figuring out what you like and what you do not like.” – A ’91 who works in communications at Google in Mountain View
-“I had no plans for post-graduation. I took a job here, a trip there…. It worked out for me and it will work out for you.” – An ’07 who just finished her first year of law school at University of Colorado at Boulder

During my first few years at Dartmouth, I was sophomoric. I thought I was such an independent trailblazer that did not need advice from anyone. Now I have realized that we are all independent trailblazers and all trailblazers can benefit from learning about the experiences of others who have been there before and taking time to reflect. Namaste.