Reflections of a Dickey Intern
If you pick up a copy of the general information booklet sent to prospective students, you will find preparing "young men and women for significant contributions to society" listed as the fundamental purpose of Dartmouth. Indeed, as an undergraduate I have had many opportunities in and out of the classroom to reflect on the idea of making a positive impact on society. However, as a United Nations intern in Vienna for nearly half a year, I had a different kind of experience, "hands on" one might say, in making a "positive impact" on one part of the world. Exposed to numerous examples of effective and ineffective global policies, I soon discovered how even the most well-intended plans will fail when based on a limited or incomplete knowledge of the problem.
Having returned to Hanover with only a half year left until graduation, I am disturbed about the degree to which Dartmouth has prepared us to make that "positive impact." In an increasingly interdependent world, making any lasting contribution to society requires more than humanitarian concern and academic contemplation. It demands exposure and increased awareness of what's going on "out there."
The internship made possible through the John Sloan Dickey Endowment for Increased International Awareness enabled me to work on several U.N. Industrial Development Projects with two very energetic Dartmouth professors, Dennis and Donella Meadows. At the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis where we were based, scientists, economists, and policy makers from the United States, the Soviet Union, and most of the countries of East and West Europe work together on problems such as acid rain, population growth, and energy systems. Amidst this current period of strained East-West relations, I.I.A.S.A. is a rarity a place where people from both sides of the Iron Curtain can work together, despite opposing ideologies, on problems of joint concern. As a member of the Meadows' team, I helped conduct workshops for government ministers, educators, and students on managing resources for the future. Almost every afternoon at the institute was filled with lectures on topics ranging from the global implications of the increasing U.S. deficit to the energy self-sufficiency of Sweden.
As intriguing as the intellectual experience was, some of my most interesting days were spent traveling to the Eastern Block countries of Hungary,. Czechoslovakia, and Poland. I enjoyed picking peaches and sampling wine with other Czechs at their village's cooperative farm, or eeling with Hungarian fishermen in rickety, wooden boats on Lake Balaton at four o'clock in the morning. And I'll never forget those heated soccer matches I played with Russians, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Dutch, the dusty train rides I took with Poles on the Chopin Express to Warsaw, and the late night conversations with young East and West scientists discussing the sorry state of East-West relations, the threat of nuclear instability, and the possiblity that individuals could make a difference.
In many ways, my Dartmouth education has been enriched by the Dickey Internship. Just as the Dartmouth Plan enabled me to pursue an interest in foreign policy-making during an off-term, it also affords my classmates opportunities to pursue other interests. When taken advantage of, off-term experiences broaden the Dartmouth experiences of all when shared and discussed back in Hanover.
Yet I felt a sort of culture shock when walking down Massachusetts Row my first week home in the United States as I overheard students seriously discussing the problem of which fraternity party to attend that evening. Even the hotly debated issues of the College symbol and Minimum Standards seem trivial compared to the kinds of issues I was compelled to think about daily in Vienna. Given such experiences, it is easy to conclude that Hanover is indeed isolated from the larger world.
But there is something appealing in the very isolated, refuge-like nature of Dartmouth. Some of the best moments of my life have been spent hiking on remote mountain trails with the ski team or making apple cider and reading Frost's poetry at my professor's Thetford farmhouse.
This beautiful New England campus, with its many diversions, makes it easy to forget the problems of the world beyond the College on the Hill. As New Hampshire residents, we are not confronted with an Iron Curtain each time we cross the border into Vermont, nor are beggars and starving children crowded along Main Street. Even a dying forest is hard to comprehend surrounded by the magnificent pines of this area. It's not that people at Dartmouth do not think about these kinds of issues, it's just easier not to think about them. Besides, who really has time to contemplate seemingly overwhelming global problems when we are already up to our necks with paper deadlines, athletic contests, and committee meetings, and trying to have a little fun, too?
As a student, it is difficult to balance concern for one's personal life, academic studies, and future plans and still remain aware of one's role as a citizen of the world. Although Dartmouth provides a wide range of foreign academic programs, the opportunities are more limited for foreign relations experiences.
In Vienna I was able, for the first time as a student, to think of myself as a global citizen. I had studied language in Toulouse earlier, but visiting Europe this second time around gave me quite a different perspective on international relations. I still enjoyed the outdoor cafes, the magnificent art and architecture, and the wild midnight trains, but I also got a taste of the varying forms of socialism that exist in the East and experienced the flavor of living within the shadow of the Iron Curtain. Most importantly, I learned to appreciate even more the opportunities inherent in being an American as well as a student of Dartmouth.
I believe that by strengthening the programs that link our campus with the larger world, the College has an opportunity, to paraphrase Robert Frost, to make all the difference. With a greater flow of the international community to and from Dartmouth, we could share splendid elements of our "refuge" with concerned individuals from around the world. In the process, the word "diversity" would take on a new meaning as Dartmouth undergraduates emerged better-prepared to make a "positive impact on society" in a diverse, rapidlychanging world, 'if
