It cheered me in the book that one of the college towns that fit Mr. Gumprecht's definition thereof was Hanover, N.H., where I spent the years 1986-2006, with various stops across the river in Norwich, Vt., junior college in Randolph, Vt., and finishing out my degree in Keene, N.H. I love Hanover. If I got a job at Dartmouth, I would move there immediately and never leave. Forgetting the fact that my parents live there - there are so many great things about that town. It's intellectual, it's beautiful, it has a phenomenal school system (of which now five Osheyacks are a product of, with four more [at least] to come.), but most important of all, there is a sense of achievement that permeates the town that thrills me to my very core.
I remember being young, and watching my parents' friends who were in medical school or working on their MBA at Tuck and how successful they seemed. How the world seemed at their feet - because of their education. Looking back on it now - I can't help but draw inspiration from it.
It's why I want to live in a college town. It's why I want to work at a college. It's why I want to raise children in a college town. It's why living in a town like the one I'm in now - and I am, truly am, grateful for having a roof over my head and for the experience of living in a small midwest town - drives me crazy sometimes. There is no pursuit of intellectualism. There is no feeling of individual success. And that's fine - who I am to criticize how people live their lives? But it's not for me.
That's why I can't wait for school. I feel motivated for the first time in a LONG time. Maybe ever. I know what I want out of life. I know a lot about myself that I didn't know two months ago. I can't wait till January.
PS - please buy me the book?
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