Learn to expect the unexpected at DePauw
By: Troy Montigney
Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: Opinion
To say my collegiate experience has gone according to plan couldn't be further from the truth. I came to DePauw as an economics major and Management Fellow; when that didn't work out I settled on communications, which I'm still not completely happy with. I came impressed by the strikingly beautiful campus. A few weeks in, a three-year construction project began in the heart of it. I came enthusiastic about the greek system, joined a house I had never set foot in and made some life-changing friends but ultimately decided to be an independent. The good GPA I planned on earning fell victim to a lethal triumvirate of continued high school senioritis, early-onset college senioritis and readily available Natural Light.
Somewhere along the way I decided to make the most of change - and especially to make the most of that which is unexpected. I learned this lesson from senior Courtney Hime, a fellow The DePauw staff member and former Delta Zeta. The circumstances she and her sorority sisters encountered here are well-known. But what everyone might not know is how happy she is she stayed at DePauw. Switching my major and underachieving a bit academically are nothing compared to what she went through.
These minor, traditional setbacks of college life are not what I will remember about this school and this community. The things that will stick with me long after Commencement Sunday are the days and nights of youth and bus rides to and from formals. Monon Bell victories and late-night garlic cheeseburgers at Marvin's. The Winter Term I spent backpacking through five European countries and senior spring break in Panama City. Fits & Starts and the sight of enraged administrators standing on milk crates, figurative pitchfork pointing at Phi Psi.
I've seen and heard the likes of Gorbachev, Kennedy and Albright. Perhaps more telling about the culture of dueling intellectual and social lives at DePauw is the roster of speakers I skipped due to lack of interest or time: Nader, Blair and Pauley, to name a few.
Somewhere along the way I decided to make the most of change - and especially to make the most of that which is unexpected. I learned this lesson from senior Courtney Hime, a fellow The DePauw staff member and former Delta Zeta. The circumstances she and her sorority sisters encountered here are well-known. But what everyone might not know is how happy she is she stayed at DePauw. Switching my major and underachieving a bit academically are nothing compared to what she went through.
These minor, traditional setbacks of college life are not what I will remember about this school and this community. The things that will stick with me long after Commencement Sunday are the days and nights of youth and bus rides to and from formals. Monon Bell victories and late-night garlic cheeseburgers at Marvin's. The Winter Term I spent backpacking through five European countries and senior spring break in Panama City. Fits & Starts and the sight of enraged administrators standing on milk crates, figurative pitchfork pointing at Phi Psi.
I've seen and heard the likes of Gorbachev, Kennedy and Albright. Perhaps more telling about the culture of dueling intellectual and social lives at DePauw is the roster of speakers I skipped due to lack of interest or time: Nader, Blair and Pauley, to name a few.
Be the first to comment on this story