Howdy! My name is Crystal and I'm a '28 from 1899.2 miles away in Fulshear, Texas hoping to study Biology on the pre-health track. Outside of being on the grind in my classes at Dartmouth, I enjoy dancing (poorly and with dance groups on campus), cooking (microwave oatmeal), and taking Buzzfeed quizzes to find out what breakfast food I am. While I'll miss Bucc-ee's and brisket from my native state, I'm beyond excited to explore all that the woods have to offer! Hopefully I'll see y'all around!
Chem 11 is my first pre-health course (and consequently my favorite course thus far); I came into Chem 11 with a bit of apprehension over what to expect since the course takes the place of the two-course alternative Chem 5 and 6 sequence. I’ll admit, there was a bit of a learning curve, especially since I hadn’t taken chemistry since junior year of high school, but Prof. Wenlin Zhang’s office hours have become an excellent way for me to gain a better grasp of the course content and work with other students through new concepts. I’m super glad that I chose this course for my first fall!
My First-Year Seminar, a Dartmouth requirement for all first-year students, concerns poetry that has a unique focus on the visual nature of the work. From pieces that cover an actual description of a work of art, to pieces that form a unique shape, we discuss how form can have a meaningful impact on the interpretation of the poem itself. I originally wasn’t too sure if I would enjoy this class since my experience with poetry is pretty sparse, but I found myself really enjoying the analytical discussions that we have. Features of the class include trips to the Hood Museum of Art and the Book Arts Workshop!
Tell Me How I'm Supposed to Breathe With No Aire: Inside Dartmouth's Oldest Acapella Group
Something that I find to be really unique about Dartmouth's campus life is the prevalence of acapella groups on campus. In fact, one of my fellow bloggers, Rika '28, is a part of the Decibelles and recently had a truly fantastic show during Winter Carnival with another group, the Cords! I had the opportunity to speak with Jay '27 this past weekend about his experience being in the Aires and how it has shaped his Dartmouth experience. Read on to learn more about what aca-xactly the Aires are up to!
Green Key last year! More on that later…
Crystal: Okay, we're live! So, let's begin by just telling me a little bit about yourself. What year are you, where are you from, what do you plan on studying, and what do you like to do on campus?
Jay: Hi, I'm Jay, a '27 from Knoxville, Tennessee. Aside from acapella, I'm also involved with research on campus and serve on the executive board for the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science. I'm also pre-health!
Crystal: Great! In your own words, describe the Aires. What are they? What do they do?
Jay: Yeah, so the Aires are an all-male acapella group on campus that has been active since around 1946, so it's very old! I love the group because of its longstanding traditions and the sense of camaraderie that we have within the group and with alumni as well. It's been a really fun way to continue singing and we do all kinds of shows for all age groups, so I think it's really awesome to be a part of a group that can cater to a diverse audience.
Jay and the '27s!
Crystal: Tell me a little bit more about the shows that y'all do!
Jay: Sure! On campus, we primarily perform in fraternity shows and every year, we have a winter tour, which is just a Northeast tour that goes to Philadelphia, New York, and Massachusetts. We also have a spring tour during Spring Break that changes every year. For example, this year, we're going to Italy, so I'm really excited about that. We've also done domestic tours like the one we did last year, so the Aires stayed at my house in Knoxville, and it was really fun.
Crystal: That's so exciting! So, how did you get into acapella?
Jay: Well, in middle school and high school, I was in choir, so I feel like I've just been singing pretty consistently. Towards the end of high school, I did a little bit of musical theater and I was co president of my high school's chamber choir. Every winter, we would do something that was basically acapella, but it wasn't like this kind of acapella. We would dress up as Renaissance-era choirs and we would perform Christmas carols all throughout town and host these holiday dinners. So, that was my main exposure to acapella in the sense that it was singing with no musical accompaniment. Coming to college, I knew I wanted to be involved with some kind of acapella, so I was so excited when I came to Dartmouth and realized there was such a big presence of acapella and performance groups on campus.
Crystal: Great! Tell me more about acapella culture on campus in general!
Jay: I've realized, after talking with friends from other schools, there's not as strong of an acapella presence on their campuses. There's more of a social presence of acapella groups here, and I think it's particularly unique here because every group has their own traditions. With such a small campus, every group really gets a spotlight, which definitely makes acapella a lot bigger here.
The Aires meeting an alumni!
Crystal: Speaking of traditions, what's your favorite tradition that the Aires have?
Jay: My favorite tradition is when, at the end of a tour, we all get together and sit down in a circle and every person has a spot to just talk as long or as little as they want about anything they want. I think it's been such a nice way to have that open space to talk about what's been going on in everyone's lives, and it really has made us so close.
Crystal: That's so nice! So, tell me about the suits you all wear.
B-Aire with me now…(see what I did there?)
Jay: We call it trou, spelled T-R-O-U. So we have fun trou and conservative trou, which is either for the fun campus events or for the fancier events we sing for. We usually just do fun trou because it's just fun! So we go thrifting every year and try to get the new members their trou, and they'll usually stick to that for a while or maybe they'll find new pieces to add to their wardrobe. The point of it is just for it to be silly, campy, and overdone. I mean, why not dress a little crazy?
Crystal: Totally! Okay, last question. I see that the Aires record music, would you be okay if I insert a shameless plug for your music?
Jay: Of course! Stay tuned for a new album or EP that will come out this year!
All three of my classes this term visited the Hood Museum of Art for curated art study sessions related to class content. I have had these sessions in prior terms too, and I really enjoy these experiences.
Valentine's Day at Dartmouth is an exciting day to spread love and appreciation for the people around you! On campus, a myriad of programs are hosted for all students to enjoy.
