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!
The transition between week 7 and week 8 is a special time during a 10-week Dartmouth term. I've learned (even in just my first two terms on campus) that this is a period of finishing the second round of mid-terms, papers, and projects and gliding right into preparing for finals. The 2022 winter term was no exception to this common trend. Of course it is busy times, but I've learned to find the silver lining in every hardship I've faced so far. Dartmouth and the Upper Valley make it effortless to find your niche and take your mind off academics for a while to mitigate the effects of burn-out. Not only was I able to take some time for myself, but I also reconnected with the things that bring me the most joy!
During the beginning of week 8, I made some time to take a gander of the famous BEMA lights that accompany Winter Carnival here at Dartmouth. (Click the links to read more on both!) This was such a peaceful and revitalizing experience for me. For one, I absolutely love to be outside and take in nature, even if it is in the crisp, cold air of the Upper Valley in the middle of winter. It was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me to appreciate the beauty and history of the place I now call home. It was humbling for me to think back to all the things I've been through to get to this point in my life. That's what the Bema lights did for me… they allowed for a serious moment of introspection.
Entrance to the beautiful BEMA lights
More BEMA
Okay, okay... Last BEMA pic
Now, I've made a point (at some juncture) in my blog that I have a particular passion for fishing. I had just carelessly assumed that the hobby I love dearly is shut down given the snow and ice cover through the Upper Valley in the winter. However, Dartmouth has yet again provided me access to continue the sport I love in the dead of winter. I've been fishing many times in my life, and now I can proudly say that I've been ice fishing twice, both this week thanks to the Dartmouth Bait and Bullet club – a sub club of the Dartmouth Outing Club. I just can't express how much it meant to me that I got to go fishing in the midst of a stressful heap of work. Fishing back at home was the one assured way I could destress, and it's been a while since I've been able to take advantage of that. This week, that changed.
Getting up early for fishing and having to wake up for class are two totally different things. I started my Saturday morning by waking up to a beautiful Hanover sunrise, and the only alarm clock needed was the excitement of a day of fishing ahead. I connected with fellow fishermen and shared "fish tales" as one always does on a fishing trip, ate tasty snacks out on the ice, and generally joked around and had a marvelous weekend. Oh, and not to mention, we caught a few fish through the ice as well!
My view of the sunrise after waking for a day of ice fishing!
I couldn't wait to get out on the ice!
Caught a beautiful Yellow Perch (totally the biggest fish of the day...)
Taking some time to reflect while walking through the Bema lights and reconnecting with my favorite pastime was motivation for me during week 8. I just love this place!
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
