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!
Visiting Dartmouth After a Hiatus: What's Different?
I've stated time and time again on this blog and through other media that Dartmouth truly is my home; it's a beautiful place full of curious and talented people that support me.
However, I gained a new perspective on this idea when I visited campus for the first time after four months. I met with friends that I hadn't seen in several terms, I visited all of the spaces on campus that I regularly frequented earlier in the year, and I ate at Foco (our dining hall) because I really missed the cookies.
Seeing my friends and all of these places almost made me emotional; I didn't realize just how much I'd missed campus and the place I've called home for the past two years. Experiencing those emotions gave me reassurance that I'm doing good work writing for the Peoples, Places, Pines blog. I truly hope that you can share these emotions by coming to Dartmouth one day; I'm very grateful to be a student here!
It's amazing how much you recognize subtle differences on campus when you haven't been there in several months. On a bigger campus, I hardly think you'd be able to recognize the fruit stand being moved or that new pots and pans are hanging from the ceiling in the dining hall.
A small area of construction underway in the cool, fall air was undoubtedly absent in the June heat. The shrubs that lined the entrance to the physics building were gone, exposing a sidewalk I never knew existed. I feel as if it's my actual home that's been modified a bit, and, as someone who's lived there for two years, I'd be able to discern even the most subtle of changes to my house. That's what Dartmouth is to me, it's home. I don't feel that I'd have a connection to a campus anywhere like I do at Dartmouth.
Speaking of the dining hall, I ran into some "lobsters" who were protesting the salmon option that night. I love Dartmouth students!
Apart from the campus changes, my interactions with my Dartmouth friends stuck out the most to me. There was the sort-of laminated "list" of people I knew I wanted to catch up with during my few days back on campus. I shared laughs with these wonderful people, got dinner with them, and shared several funny stories about our journeys we had during the previous summer term.
Apart from these core group of friends, I was taken aback by the amount of friends that kept "popping" up outside of the dining hall or while walking along the sidewalk. I received many shouts like "Hey, Gavin! I thought you were doing an off-term! What are you up to?" or a "Yo! I haven't seen you in ages, how's it going?" I've impacted a few lives here at Dartmouth, and I've certainly been impacted by many individuals along the way. I'm so grateful. Having these experiences visiting campus after not showing my face for a couple months reinforces my love for Dartmouth and the friends I've made during my journey!
I also reconnected with Dartmouth's nature by talking a walk along a trail at Pine Park. Just look at the beautiful leaves!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
