Hi y'all! I'm Catherine and I'm from the great state of Texas. When I'm not in class you'll find me carefully curating Spotify playlists, exploring the Upper Valley with friends, or finding ways to enjoy the great outdoors through different sub-clubs with the DOC. I am the Treasurer of the club lacrosse team, a tutor for the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, and am involved with research in machine learning and computational humanities through Sophomore and Neukom scholars!
It’s cold. It’s finals. You’re tired of doing work and holing yourself up in the stacks of Baker-Berry Library all day does not sound particularly fun. What do you do? Where do you go?
That’s the exact position I found myself in at the end of this winter term. Thank goodness there are other places on campus to study, especially ones with warmth and sun. During finals week, I discovered the greenhouse, located on the fourth floor of the Life Sciences Center, which is open to the public and has tables open that are a perfect place to study.
A view of my cozy study spot amongst the plants.
The minute you walk inside the greenhouse you are hit by the natural warmth of the sun and surrounded by the greenness of the plants. This may sound strange, but after a winter full of whiteness whenever you walk outside, the sight of green plants is oddly pleasurable. I set up shop at one of the open tables and was able to study for hours in warmth and relaxation.
As I previously mentioned, the greenhouse is open to the community, which makes it an incredible public space that fosters educational and research missions. They even give tours of the botanical collections. While students will often study at the open tables, and they're available for meetings or lunches.
My favorite part of the greenhouse—the cacti!
If you venture further into the greenhouse you can visit other rooms where different types of plants are grown based on their conditions. One room has dry, arid plants like cacti, while other rooms house plants that live in a tropical or temperate climate. There is also a beautiful orchid collection. While I am in no way an expert on plants or their biology, it is a nice relaxing study break to be able to go on a walk through the various rooms, looking at and admiring all the different kinds of plants. Especially coming off of ten weeks of winter, being able to enjoy the warmth of the sun amongst the many varieties of plants is both relaxing and invigorating.
Catching dragonflies at the Organic Farm during my Agroecology lab, plunging feet first into the Connecticut River after class, and exploring the Upper Valley by electric scooter… all in one day! Welcome to Sophomore Summer.
I wanted to make my last blog post for this academic year about the places in the Dartmouth community that I will deeply miss and have made amazing memories with the wonderful members of this community.
Honestly, I cannot wait to be home. Although Dartmouth has been a home for me for the past nine months, the college experience is made of many ups and downs. Come check my first year wrap-up!
