One of my most exciting campus involvements is writing about life at Dartmouth for prospective students and their families. As an admissions blogger, I get to reflect on the highlights (and lowlights) of my Dartmouth experience, and I get to be a welcoming face for the incoming class.
I've now spent not one, but TWO summers at Dartmouth. So I figured I'd compile a list with my favorite Sophomore Summer (and Freshman Summer!) memories.
This past fall, I interned at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA for short)! There, I got to be a part of economic research that goes directly to the President to help inform policy decisions. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So despite my love of New England falls, I packed my bags for Washington D.C.
While I waste my (admittedly ample) freetime in quarantine vying for fifteen seconds of TikTok fame, my heart honestly goes out to you. It's your senior year, and I'm sorry it had to end like this.
On the other hand, I envy you and your fresh pair of eyes. You're about to start some of the most magical years of your life at one of the most fun, whimsical, and intellectually challenging colleges. It's exciting!
In this window of time before you meet the majestic New Hampshire wild, I wanted to write you all a welcome note of sorts so you have even more to look forward to when we can all be within six feet of each other again:
Welcome to our family!
It's now mid-December and you've finally received your ED acceptance letter. Congrats!! You've done it: you're going to your dream school.
You probably didn't realize this when you applied, and you might not even realize this until you graduate, but this dream you've chased is not a school. It's that intangible idea that a Dartmouth education is not simply an education. (…) This dream you've chased is the Dartmouth family and the "Dartmouth experience" that comes, and lasts, with it.
This term, I'm taking two classes that disagree with each other.
Why? Well, going to a liberal arts school inevitably means exposing yourself to a variety of academic disciplines. As part of the promise of that liberal arts, Dartmouth has a distributive requirement that requires us to take courses out of our comfort zone (dubbed "distribs"). While I've found distribs to be rather daunting in the past, distribs have ultimately pushed me to try classes outside of my traditional academic interests and to become a better critical thinker.
Last year, I stepped onto campus for the first time. No, not for Dimensions (which if you can, you should go to, by the way)... not even on a random weekend just to see it. I had committed the next four years of my life to Dartmouth despite having never even visited the state of New Hampshire. It might sound a little crazy, but I felt like I already had a good enough idea of the school and didn't feel like I needed to. Here's why (and how) I chose Dartmouth, without visiting campus …
I'm currently writing this blog post from a dorm room at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. And yes, Dartmouth sent me here.
How did this happen?
It all began a little over a year ago when I first decided that stumbling into Dartmouth’s Parliamentary Debate Team practice with zero public speaking experience whatsoever sounded like a fantastic idea.
And honestly, it was.
It's 18F (Fall 2018) and my second fall at Dartmouth!
This is my first season on campus where I'm not encountering unfamiliar weather for the first time, and it's the first season where I'm no longer one of campus' youngest.
And not to be too sappy, but as the leaves have turned into their vibrant hues of red, orange, and yellow, my concept of home has also followed suit.
To me, summer brings to mind many happy childhood memories: running through the neighborhood sprinklers, lazing in a hammock, swimming in a lake... none of which include school. This summer, however, I'm taking a full college courseload, by choice.
Why? Well, thanks to the D-Plan, I have the flexibility to choose which terms I'm on and off campus (we have four year-round terms, rather than two semesters). (…)
And while #academicrigor is real, summer on campus almost feels like those happy childhood memories...
“You can throw it on The Green,
You can throw it at your dean!”
These sprightly rhymes were a welcome distraction from my studies. In a poem sent from Theodor.S.Geisel.25@dartmouth.edu to the entire campus, “Dr. Seuss” invited challenged us all to a snowball fight, asking in the subject line: “Would you, could you, in the snow?”
Dr. Seuss sent the same poem during the first snowfall last year, and I remember my freshman self eagerly darting to The Green with friends in the thick of midterms season.
