Features
Stress about the important things
By Ben Fields ’15
May 7, 2015
After writing over 100 articles for The Spectator, I assumed that it would be easy to crank out a few hundred words about my time at Hamilton. I was wrong. I have tried to start this piece several different times, and each time I end up deleting everything on the page. How can I possibly distill such an amazing experience into just one article? Hamilton is so much more than just a school to me; it is even more than a community and a home. Hamilton is to me what Hogwarts was to Harry Potter. It is a place where I have learned to be someone I can be proud of, where I have met the most important people in my life and a place that I could not imagine my life without.
Let’s take it back a little bit though. How did I end up here to begin with? As a 17 year-old high school junior, I was certain that I wanted to go to school near a big city; then I came to Hamilton. It might be cliché to say this, but Hamilton was the only school I really loved. From the moment I set foot on campus on a sunny day in October of 2010, I knew that this was where I wanted to be. Once I got here as a first-year, I knew that this was the greatest place I’ve ever been, and that I was incredibly lucky to be here.
Considering how lucky I’ve been to be here, I wanted to give back to Hamilton what it has given me. In high school I learned an important motto: “Do the best you can in the time available.” While I think this is an amazing way to live life, I think that it needs a little modification to fit my Hamilton experience. I’d rather say, “Do all that you can in the time available.” Hamilton is a place that gives everyone the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Whether that dream is starting a club or publication, finding a new area to study or having an absurd need to be completely overinvolved, you can do it at Hamilton.
I can certainly say that I fit the third category: having a crazy need to be completely overinvolved. I can’t say that it was always the best thing for me, but I love that I have been able to do the absurd amount of things that I’ve done. On that note, if I might offer a bit of unrequested advice, don’t stress out too much about the little things. Rather, you should stress about the big things. I definitely won’t say that college has not been a stressful experience, but the trick is to stress about the right things at the right time.
Stress out about the things that truly matter. Stress about spending as much time as possible with the people you love while you live on a campus with them. Stress about getting the chance to be involved in a million different things before you get sucked into jobs and the real world. Stress about enjoying every single last moment at Hamilton.
As I write this, I am realizing that in just three weeks I will be finishing packing up my room for the last time. I’ll spend my last night as a resident in Hamilton’s dorms, and then leave the Hill not as a student, but as an alum. While the idea of that is terrifying and I will desperately miss my life here, I feel prepared to go off and start my next adventure. Everything I have done at Hamilton, from swimming to classes to The Spectator to just a random afternoon with friends, has prepared me for my future life.
Since this is the end of the road, I feel like I should offer a certain amount of thanks to everyone that has gotten me through these four years. The list is certainly too long for me to publish it in this article, but there are a few people that I do want to list. First, and foremost, Lisa Magnarelli and T.J. Davis. Without them, I would probably have drowned in the pool, or paperwork. Everyone on the swimming and diving teams, Spectator staff–past and present, friends and family and everyone else.
Finally, a last piece of advice and general thought for everyone: relish your time at Hamilton. I will always hold the Hill in my heart above everywhere else in the world, and I’m certain this feeling is echoed among countless alumni. Though it is cliché to say this—which means it’s true—just because I am leaving Hamilton does not mean it is leaving me. Just as J.K. Rowling said about Hogwarts, I hope that Hamilton will always be here to welcome me home.