
        &lt;p&gt;Just do your best, ok?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;No Dad, my best is THE best!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Erin has been Type A for a long time (since 3rd grade, at least), and most of campus can say the same. As a result, arriving at Dartmouth can be a kind of collective rude awakening.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Everyone is so much smarter, fitter, cooler and more confident &hellip; and it&rsquo;s scary. Even when we succeed, we&rsquo;re discouraged from saying so, lest we willingly confront the cry of &ldquo;Self call!&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So we distract ourselves with inane interactions &mdash; a boisterous laugh shared with others secretly as scared as ourselves.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;I SO bombed that exam. HA! FAILBLOG. LOLZ.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;Yah, EARS 6 is impossible! I TOTALLY failed!&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Or we binge and attempt to forget:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;So pong later?!&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m SO blacking out tonight.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Of course we cling to that which helps us cope. But when does admitting failure, acknowledging our slightest flaws instead of ironically highlighting them, offer the better alternative? Hiding behind laughter and liquor seems supremely prevalent among the successful &mdash; here and elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This week, The Mirror takes a look at those stains on our snow-white campus that make all of us squirm. Do we fail with our actions, or by failing to act in the first place? Are we hardened against asking for help, or are we good at hiding when we do? With the opportunities available to us here, can our mistakes even be considered failures?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We ask these questions with the musings of our new senior columnists in mind. Hi, Kip and Peter! In the coming year, they&rsquo;ll shed some light on Dartmouth&rsquo;s deficiencies, be it sardonically or seriously, and challenge us to confront them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For now, we&rsquo;ll stick to covering up our shortcomings with yet another joke.&lt;/p&gt;

      