Me and friends after doing a ropes Course.

Most first blogs start out by telling you the writer's name, where they're from and some interesting thing about them. I'll do that, but at the end of this blog post, in the mean time here is a picture, I'm the one with the cool hair. I'm a bit unorthodox.

Dartmouth was the last school I thought I would end up at, I didn't think that I was "a Dartmouth student." I had doubted myself and what I was capable of for a pretty long time. I was intimidated by the more than 245 years of history which the college has compared to my 13 years of living in America. I didn't think that I would fit in, I thought that I didn't belong. It wasn't until I realized that there is no "typical Dartmouth student" that I saw myself here. I struggled with understanding that there is no single voice which speaks for all of Dartmouth but rather it's our collective voices which create the voice of the college. The beautiful thing about now being on campus is that I get to see first hand just how true that is. Dartmouth is a place which welcomes you for you, and invites you to be your most genuine self.



Last picture I took with my parents when they dropped me off. (My mom cried after this picture being taken.)

  Interesting observation: I've noticed that the bell atop the tower tolls one minute early. Every time I hear it toll, my phone always says that it is 5:59 or 6:59. I'm guessing that either no one else notices it, or others notice but pay no mind to trying to fix it. I mean, is there someone here at the college who is in charge of ensuring the bell tolls on time? I think I just came up with my next blog post. Hopefully next time you read a post from me, I can confirm or deny the bell toller's (is that a word?) existence.



We had hot air balloons on The Green and I rode one and took this selfie with the tower in the background.

OH! My name is Carlos Polanco, I'm a '21, and I'm from Clifton, New Jersey. Something cool about me: I've cracked my skull twice.