A Summertime Family Invasion
Sophomore Summer is renowned for its relaxed afternoons, cut-back coursework, and of course its Connecticut River swim-sessions, but amongst the day to day activities, there exists a sizable share of special weekend events. This time around, it was all about family; this weekend, the College invited all sophomore students to bring up their parents and siblings for a couple days, hosting all different kinds of programming and events.
Over the summer, family has definitely been one of the predominant themes; with only the ‘21s class on campus, bonds have grown incredibly close, and in my case, that involves everyone from housemates to fraternity brothers. Truly, living with just such a small group of other students has been an incomparable experience, and it’s definitely formed some relationships that will last a lifetime. Still, having parents come up and visit all at once has made those bonds even closer; not only is it wonderful to see family, but having them meet friends’ parents and siblings integrates them well into the wider Dartmouth community. Of course, it’s obviously not just all about parents meeting new people; the College and its New England backdrop provided an awesome variety of activities to spend time with family and show them what Dartmouth is all about.
In my case, that meant hanging around my house off campus, having a catered brunch at my fraternity, grabbing gelato from Morano, getting dinner at Molly’s, and showing my parents the coolest spots on campus. Plus, the Hopkins Center for the Arts had a variety of concerts planned on the Green throughout the afternoon, and with the beautiful weather, we spent a good amount of time just sitting around and listening to the music. While we didn’t attend any of the other College-sponsored events, there were also tours of Baker Tower going on alongside some other scheduling.
For the second day, my family decided to take advantage of the cool things to do outdoors in the area. After grabbing some sandwiches from an awesome local deli, we drove off to Cardigan Mountain, a short hike with beautiful views about 45 minutes away from campus. On the way up, we ran into probably about four other Dartmouth families in addition to an alumnus from the Class of ’68, and so the Dartmouth family was well and present out in the mountains for the weekend.
Whereas parents can realistically visit any time of year, to have everyone together at once made the experience all the more enjoyable. Truly, Dartmouth’s regard for family has so far been spectacular, and for somebody whose family had never step foot near the College before my tenure, it was a wonderful time being able to introduce them to all that makes Dartmouth great.
