Class Note 2020
Issue
July-August 2022
Hi, ’20s! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the fruits of summer. Personally, I am excited for us all to come together in Hanover this August for our Commencement celebration. While some might think this an event to commemorate our efforts at the College, I think it will also be a time to celebrate what we have achieved in our young adulthood, including after graduation. This column, Emma (Sampugnaro) Velicky penned a beautiful piece about just this, finding herself after Dartmouth.
“At Dartmouth we were told almost constantly to step off the beaten path, to think outside the box—not just with our studies, but with our lives. Yet in many ways attending Dartmouth is part of a narrow but well-worn path toward social mobility. On campus the sense of belonging and togetherness made it easy to dodge questions of purpose. The future, far away from cramped dorm rooms and stolen Food Court plates, was always bold and beautiful and bright.
“Well, my friends, the future is now. I hesitate to reference current events, knowing that the moment I do a new variant will show up before the ink dries. Instead, I will report on how things have been for me since March 2020, after getting stuck in Seattle with one carry-on suitcase in my now husband’s 400-square-foot studio apartment.
“I am a continuation of everything I was before, but sometimes it feels as though the proportions are all drawn wrong. I am 23 and married—a peculiarity for college-educated, non-religious Gen-Z women, but for a girl who used to chase boys around the playground, it hardly comes as a surprise. If I had double-majored at Dartmouth it would have been for a Mrs. degree. By all standard metrics of success, Dartmouth has catapulted me onward and upward. I work for Microsoft as a product manager. I bought a house in central Seattle. My family is all very impressed. But what keeps me up at night is the fear that I’m not living up to my potential.
“If someone had told me that I would spend my 20s pouring coffee and fetching dry cleaning to support a glamorous writing career in my 30s, I’d say, count me in. However, one might describe my current situation as staring at a computer monitor all day while money pours down my throat. I was prepared for hustling and struggling to make my dreams come true, not trudging through a lucrative but incredibly boring 9-to-5.
“Yet I am learning that these small, conventional steps require the most belief, the most discipline—the most therapy. In therapy I am learning to trust myself and my process. I push for professional recognition even though I don’t see myself in this career in the long term. I went part-time at Microsoft to make more space for my writing. I just published my historical bondage, dominance, and submission/sadomasochism romance novel, Caribbean Reign (Amazon). Maybe one day I’ll adapt it into a screenplay and try to sell it to Netflix. Maybe one day I’ll open an Italian bakery in Seattle or a flagship West Coast location for Dunkin Donuts. Right now I am learning to accept what I have and still strive for better. I am not complacent. I am letting my experiences shape who I am and who I want to be. Not every step will be unique, not every step will be perfect, but I am growing up. We are growing up.”
See you all soon (I hope)! Until then, wishing you all health and happiness.
—Katie Goldstein, 263 W Santa Inez, Hillsborough, CA 94010; katie.e.goldstein.20@dartmouth.edu
“At Dartmouth we were told almost constantly to step off the beaten path, to think outside the box—not just with our studies, but with our lives. Yet in many ways attending Dartmouth is part of a narrow but well-worn path toward social mobility. On campus the sense of belonging and togetherness made it easy to dodge questions of purpose. The future, far away from cramped dorm rooms and stolen Food Court plates, was always bold and beautiful and bright.
“Well, my friends, the future is now. I hesitate to reference current events, knowing that the moment I do a new variant will show up before the ink dries. Instead, I will report on how things have been for me since March 2020, after getting stuck in Seattle with one carry-on suitcase in my now husband’s 400-square-foot studio apartment.
“I am a continuation of everything I was before, but sometimes it feels as though the proportions are all drawn wrong. I am 23 and married—a peculiarity for college-educated, non-religious Gen-Z women, but for a girl who used to chase boys around the playground, it hardly comes as a surprise. If I had double-majored at Dartmouth it would have been for a Mrs. degree. By all standard metrics of success, Dartmouth has catapulted me onward and upward. I work for Microsoft as a product manager. I bought a house in central Seattle. My family is all very impressed. But what keeps me up at night is the fear that I’m not living up to my potential.
“If someone had told me that I would spend my 20s pouring coffee and fetching dry cleaning to support a glamorous writing career in my 30s, I’d say, count me in. However, one might describe my current situation as staring at a computer monitor all day while money pours down my throat. I was prepared for hustling and struggling to make my dreams come true, not trudging through a lucrative but incredibly boring 9-to-5.
“Yet I am learning that these small, conventional steps require the most belief, the most discipline—the most therapy. In therapy I am learning to trust myself and my process. I push for professional recognition even though I don’t see myself in this career in the long term. I went part-time at Microsoft to make more space for my writing. I just published my historical bondage, dominance, and submission/sadomasochism romance novel, Caribbean Reign (Amazon). Maybe one day I’ll adapt it into a screenplay and try to sell it to Netflix. Maybe one day I’ll open an Italian bakery in Seattle or a flagship West Coast location for Dunkin Donuts. Right now I am learning to accept what I have and still strive for better. I am not complacent. I am letting my experiences shape who I am and who I want to be. Not every step will be unique, not every step will be perfect, but I am growing up. We are growing up.”
See you all soon (I hope)! Until then, wishing you all health and happiness.
—Katie Goldstein, 263 W Santa Inez, Hillsborough, CA 94010; katie.e.goldstein.20@dartmouth.edu