Gabriel Gilbert

Hiking 1 was probably one of the most interesting intros to hiking I could've imagined. I'd never gone on a hike before, but my trip leaders Brady and Eliza made it a blast — even if it was pouring rain for the entirety of our first day. My trippees (fellow freshmen on the trip) and I bonded over being wet and since then we've shared meals multiple times and still plan on hanging out in the future.

Being able to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day was such a phenomenal experience, and the entire month of October was filled with activities that allowed me to learn more about the cultures of my friends and peers from across the nation. It never ceases to amaze me how different and yet similar our backgrounds are. I can honestly say that I started to feel truly at home at Dartmouth during this month, but that's hard not to do when eating food that ranged from frybread to smoked octopus to spam musubi in dozens of celebrations of Indigenous cultural diversity. It was an absolute blast.

My first snowday at Dartmouth will probably fade from memory pretty quickly, but I can safely say that I've never been more excited for snow before Thanksgiving. It was hilarious watching all of my friends from tropical places look at snow for the first time and even funnier seeing them suit up in full suits of anti-cold armor (I'm talking like four or more layers here, guys) to brace themselves against the pre-winter chill. But yes, Dartmouth can get cold sometimes. I for one, with zero experience in New England, am actually pretty excited for this totally new experience (that, and the ice fishing and skiing to be done next term...).

Something you may have heard about is the infamous Lou's Challenge. I think many Dartmouth students define it as an all-nighter spent studying but when you go and grab breakfast at Lou's as soon as it opens (6 during the week, 7 on weekends). After a group of my friends and I completed finals, we all decided we'd stay up on the last Friday night together to do the Lou's Challenge. So no, we didn't study into the night. We watched movies and Love Island instead. Haters will tell you that we didn't complete the challenge, and to be fair, some of us didn't — personally, I napped for thirty minutes — but regardless, we went to Lou's at the crack of dawn to some mischievous winter winds and a coy sunrise that wasn't fooling anyone. But the food? The food was delicious. Will most definitely be Lou's-challenging again next term.