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!
This is my second off term at Dartmouth, and my plans are going to be a bit different this time around. My first off term was back in the summer of 2022 after three quarters of enrollment at Dartmouth. From there, I immediately participated in a rigorous internship that was an essential step in my career and academic trajectory. A full year of Dartmouth classes later, I've reached my second off term during the fall of 2023. Fall term at Dartmouth is one of the most eventful times of the year, with events like Homecoming, First Year Trips, New Student Orientation, and much more. So, I'm certainly missing Dartmouth at the moment – the campus, the events, and most certainly the people. However, after I've gotten over two years of college under my belt, I've realized that it's time to take some time for myself – time to cool off, rejuvenate, and reorient for the next few years of my life.
Enjoying all the time I can get with my siblings is very important to me at this stage in my life. Who knows how much I'll get to see them in the next couple of years!
The best way I can describe it, from my point of view, is through the lyrics of Billy Joel's song "Vienna" when he sings "You'd better cool it off before you burn it out." I'm sure that the next couple of months will be the longest stretch of free time I will get in my life until I retire. So, even though I still have that "go getter" attitude, I fell that it's wise to do what Billy says and cool off before I get back into the swing of things. That's not to say that I will be totally off the grid; For example, I will be doing weekly blog posts, doing part time research, and being a grader for the Mathematics department at Dartmouth. So, I won't go too stir crazy during the fall. I gave this a great deal of thought as I pondered which internship I would accept for the fall. I applied to a few scientific laboratory and congressional internships, but I ended up turning them down. I need this time to reset and revitalize my mind.
So, when it comes to having a productive off term at Dartmouth, I think it looks different for everyone. From my experience, I've heard a plethora of plans for someone's off term – everything from consulting internships to rest and relaxation. Everyone is on their own journey, and they need to go at their own pace. I highly suggest that you remain mindful of where your mental health is, how close to burnout you might be, and to take inventory of your personal needs before you try and advance your academic interests or put something on your resume. Taking some time for yourself can be just as productive an off term as putting some prestigious internships on your resume. It just depends on where you are on your journey. This is the kind of advice that I've gotten at Dartmouth during my first couple of years, and I'm immensely grateful for that knowledge. Now, I hope I'm imparting a bit of that wisdom to you! 😊
It's easy to forget how easy it is to access walking trails during the hustle of a Dartmouth term. As graduation nears, I am reminded of how special it is to step off campus and enjoy quiet moments in nature.
After returning from an enriching study abroad program, I'm diving into a bustling spring semester here at Dartmouth. Here are my four courses I'm taking this term!
Dartmouth's liberal arts curriculum pushes students to explore new departments and draw connections between seemingly disparate disciplines. Come explore my Economics, Physics, and Asian, Societies, Cultures, and Languages classes!
