Greetings from the woods! My name is Gavin Fry, and I'm a student blogger with the People, Places, and Pines team. I'm a proud first-generation college student, carrying with me the full support of my crazy family. I plan to be involved with undergraduate research, outdoor activities, and club golf here at Dartmouth! You can find me geeking out about the weather, reading novels, and always drinking coffee (at any time of the day). So nice to meet you!
Academic Program
Prospective Environmental Earth Science Major with a Minor in Public Policy
Favorite Thing Right Now
My idea of starting a chapter of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) here at Dartmouth!
Oh. My. Goodness. What a fun class this was! As a certified weather and climate geek, I was totally entrenched in everything we done in this course. From the labs and weather presentations to the "flipped" classroom experience, I thoroughly enjoyed this class. Dr. Osterberg's excitement for the course material made it that much more enjoyable! It was truly an extraordinary first-year course to take.
I’ve loved this class from beginning to end. For one, I enjoyed it because of the people in it, but I also loved it because of the content. Through frequent class discussion, I learned about the health of our democracy and the ways it is compromised. Very enlightening class!
Religion 5 was a quintessential liberal arts course that deepened my knowledge in a subject I thought I had all figured out. As a STEM-oriented student, this class offered the perfect balance to my spring term schedule. As a result of this class, I became more introspective of how I was raised, and I'm more grateful in my ability to be a free-thinker.
SummerOff Campus Internship - Princeton, New Jersey
This summer, I explored my future career plans by participating in a research internship with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University. I learned a lot about what I want (and what I don't want) in a future career, and I made so many awesome lifelong connections!
A course rooted in both philosophical theory and real, practical methods of becoming a better public speaker was the highlight of the term. Our class of 16 students grew to be a sort of "mini-family," and I'm so grateful for the connections I made. I completely changed the way I view public speaking and homed in on my own skills as a public speaker!
Once again, a course outside my major found its way into my favorite class list. This sociology course helped me better understand how children are viewed in society, the way sociologists study youth, and the major differences in norms around childhood around the world. Who knew there was so much to learn about youth culture!
To be clear, there's no one set "experience" for what a First-Generation and Low-Income (FGLI) student's life will look like in college. I can provide my personal experience here at Dartmouth to give you a sense of what, I think, being an FGLI student is like at such a wealthy institution. First, I want to put my background in perspective and what being FGLI means for me (I think it looks different for every person). Then, I want to conceptualize my first year at Dartmouth through the FGLI lens. Let's do it!
If you've read some of my past blog posts, then you may already have a good idea of where I come from. I'm from a small town in rural Missouri, population 636, with one general store and a LOT of fields. I was born and raised in this town, worked the farms in this place, and watched my siblings grow up here. It is home. I was raised by my grandmother for most of my adolescent years. We lived paycheck to paycheck. We had to count up the groceries that we "desperately needed," tried to determine whether we could pay the bills, and maybe went out to eat once a month. The "First-Generation" part of my life is something I hold dear to me. Neither my mother or father attended college, so I never had that firsthand advice on how to apply to college or what it would be like. The "Low-Income" part of my life is something that means even more to me. I knew I wanted my college paid for. I didn't want money to be an issue in my future as it had been for so many years. I talk, extensively, about how I got to know Dartmouth in another post, so go read that post for sure! For this post, just know that I made it!
The First-Year Student Enrichment Program (FYSEP) is a pre-college orientation program to get FGLI students acclimated to the Dartmouth environment. It was an amazing experience; I met many FGLI students who I'm still close friends with. However, I quickly realized that there weren't many people in the "poor kid from the rural south" category. It took me some time to realize that I was in a pretty unique position here at Dartmouth. I grew up on a farm, my parents made essentially nothing, I had no idea how to apply to college a few months ago, and here I was at an Ivy League college. Funny how life works sometimes. As I started to understand what being an FGLI student here at Dartmouth truly meant, I began to find my place here.
At first, I thought no one shared my experiences, and I'm still right to some degree. I come from a unique background that makes me who I am today. But so are all the other FGLI students at Dartmouth. Everyone has an incredible story of overcoming impossible odds to get to where they are today. It's about being able to relate to the shared FGLI experience, and that's what I find solace in. Whether it be growing up in a third-world country, living in a poverty-stricken city in the U.S., dealing with family problems, working three jobs in high school, or raising your siblings, every FGLI student here has a story to share. We are a part of a community here at Dartmouth; we are here for each other.
The First-Generation Office is amazing. We've even got our own stickers!
Dartmouth is home to people from all walks of life. That includes a good amount of wealth and prestige. I first noticed it during the winter months when everyone was well-equipped with rather expensive winter clothes to coast through the New England weather, not to mention ski gear from their family trips to the Alps or whatever it may be. Even so, the FGLI community was always there for me. All FGLI students got vouchers for $300 to buy any winter gear they needed from the local LL Bean store. Here recently, there was an event known as "family day," where, you guessed it, students' families can come and visit. If you're FGLI here, that's almost an impossibility. Nonetheless, the FGLI staff hosted community events so that you could still feel you were a part of a family at this time – a part of the FGLI family.
I think this foam finger has figured it out!
Although being an FGLI student at Dartmouth can be a bit shocking at first, I truly think we are treated well. We all have a story to share, and each one is as inspiring as the next. I'm humbled to be a part of a family with these people. I've received questions on whether or not an FGLI student can "make it" at such a prestigious institution. Well, I think the environment fostered by Dartmouth allows us to not only "make it," but thrive and work harder than we ever have before.
Learn about the different programs Dartmouth offers prospective students to explore campus life, learn about Dartmouth, and enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to Hanover!
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
