people smile dinner

As my first term here is wrapping up, I think it would be fun to have a low-key I-can-still-remember post.

I can still remember that moment when I parted with my best friend as I left South Station to get on the Dartmouth Coach. I was completely nervous. What does Dartmouth look like? Can I make friends there? Am I going to be okay? I had no idea. Up until then, Dartmouth had just been a college on the other side of the globe to me, yet I was about to arrive there. My heart was racing the entire two-and-a-half-hour drive.

I can still remember the fuss I made that afternoon, when I was unbelievably clumsy with three insanely heavy suitcases and couldn’t find my ways around campus. I called Safety & Security twice and the Office of Residential Life three times for them to open my room for me twice because I forgot my passport inside my locked room and thus I couldn’t get my ID and room key. And I felt like crying the entire afternoon because I was freaking out and my best friend and my family weren’t there for me. But I didn’t cry, because everyone I reached out to was really welcoming and ready to help me.

I can still remember how I met all my closest friends during Orientation. I met Jiro and Themis on the first day’s International BBQ, when the table in which my roommate, Lauren (and the only one I knew at that time), was sitting at was full, so I was kinda lost but then Jiro and Themis offered a place at their table, and Themis was even so kind to go find another chair for me.

I met Selin on that super rainy day when I shared my super conspicuous pink-flowered umbrella with her the entire day but still I couldn’t remember her name so I had to secretly look her up on Facebook...

And I remember how one Saturday night I just randomly snapped Marco that I was bored and he walked all the way from his room in Morton to my room in McLaughlin just to hang out with me for 20 minutes.

My closest friends at Dartmouth

I can still remember what my first day of classes was like, when I was super awkward at a fun-fact introduction, because I wasn’t sure if I had a fun fact about myself. I also remembered how surprised I was when all my professors turned out to be not as strict as they sounded in the syllabi; my Japanese and Econ professors are always making jokes during class, and my Writing professor feels like a mom to us. I’m honestly feeling a little sad to say goodbye to them as our classes are coming to an end next week.

And I can still remember my first night out with my friends, when it was freaking cold but we still lay down on the wet grasses at the golf court to stargaze, and it was just breathtakingly beautiful.

And my first Brekky Club’s breakfast.

And my first article in The Dartmouth.

And the first time I said to my new friends, “I love you guys.”

And the first time I cried in front of them.

And everything…

It’s been an awesome term, with lots and lots of ups and downs. I’ve learned, made friends, and grown a lot. And the coolest thing is, it’s extraordinary to think that it’s only been ten weeks but I’m already so in love with Dartmouth!