Last Saturday was Registration day at Tuck for all first-year students, though I kept referring to it as “opening day”. Every season has a way of making its entrance; the first beach day of summer(which didn’t happen until August this year, but I won’t get into that), the first tree to start turning red and yellow in the fall, the first snowflake of winter (yes, agreed, too soon for that). There is always some type of signal that starts something. The air feels different. It is full of anticipation.
In my time at Tuck I have always felt that one does not need to see the calendar to know it is August. This place never rests, nor do we close down for the summer (as some students might think), but I do try to take some vacation time in July to regroup and prepare for the next season. After my summer break passes, (this year it took the form of a bike trip to the Outer Banks and my brother’s wedding in Rhode Island) the air feels different at Dartmouth. Big busses are lined up in front of the Dartmouth Outing Club front door to take freshman on their famous outdoor excursions, faculty are all back in their offices, and I start noticing new faces at the grocery store and the bookstore. My pace quickens, I am in the office earlier, and there is an increased urgency to my checklist items. It is August and we are preparing for new students to arrive on campus. At Tuck, at Dartmouth, at the med school and then engineering school…..everyone is preparing for their season opener!
Last Saturday was opening day at Tuck. The Class of 2011 came together for the first time. Members of the Class of 2011 gathered in Cook Auditorium and were addressed by deans and directors and welcomed again and again to Tuck. This event signals the start of something big…the first day of the next two years on the path to obtaining and MBA from Tuck! After a season of traveling, meeting and interviewing candidates, reading applications, and working with the admissions committee to select the class, we couldn’t be happier to welcome this new class to Tuck.
As I write this note to you from Logan Airport in Boston (well actually I was interrupted in Boston and now it is Miami…en route to Lima), I am amazed that I am also kicking off my season. The travel, interviews, application reading, and excitement of meeting people who want to come to Tuck starts anew! My season opener will take me to Lima, Santiago, and Buenos Aires. Later in September I will head to LA and San Francisco. I will try to stay put in October for a spell, but then I will be off again. Delhi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul will keep me on the run from late October into mid-November. I am looking forward to each city and hopefully meeting some of you when I am out and about or on my home turf.
Though I am away from campus now, my thoughts are with the Class of 2011 as they prepare for the first day of classes on Tuesday. Send some good vibes their way because no matter what you hear, they are all nervous. I have no doubt they can handle what is ahead, but not knowing exactly what is ahead or how to balance everything is daunting. They have traded in their big cities and their routines for the unfamiliar. The T’11s are in a new neighborhood with new people everywhere they turn. They need to find a new dry cleaner, a new running loop, and a new place to get their morning coffee. All that and classes, too! They can do it and I guarantee you that those who came before them would LOVE to be in their shoes right now. Best wishes to the Class of 2011 for a winning season!!
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