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!
Transitioning to college out of high school is a huge feat, and there's no script spelling out how it will go for one person. When I was applying to colleges, I knew I wouldn't thrive at a bigger university. I'm from a rural farm town of around 600 people and had a graduating class of around 40 kids. I can see myself in a larger city one of these days, but my four years of college wasn't going to be that time. I wanted something smaller, a little quainter, and dare I say…. rural. Something that I've grown to appreciate over my twenty years of life is open landscapes and the ability to see nature when I walk outside, not a busy street corner or construction sounds. That's just who I am, and living in the South made me accustomed to that lifestyle. I knew I wasn't ready to give that up when choosing to go to college, and that's something you should factor in when you apply. Academic focus, cost of attendance, etc., are obviously important factors as well. Just remember, you're spending the next four years of life at this place. Do you want to live there? That's what I was focused on out of high school.
In many different circumstances, I've heard Dartmouth's rural campus described as being a "con" out of the pros and cons list or something that detracts from the rest of the college experience. For me, the opposite has been true; I think Dartmouth's rural campus is something so special, and it's easy to take it for granted. If you grew up in the city, you might take a different perspective. I've come to realize that living in the bigger cities in the Northeast U.S. has its perks—going to NYC for this and Boston for that, and I think that's great for some people. If you come from a background remotely like mine (small rural town vibes), I truly don't think you'll get a better college atmosphere than Dartmouth. It truly is in the middle of the woods, and I absolutely love that (this is another thing that people talk about negatively sometimes). Even if you don't come from a small, rural town, I'd challenge you to give this rural college vibe a try—I don't think you'd regret it!
Looking back, I think I took Dartmouth's rural campus and outdoor scene for granted when I first got here. I was so focused on academics, finding my friend group, etc., that I forgot how important my surrounding environment was. I could have easily gone to college in a much larger city, and I sometimes think about what my life would be like if I did. After visiting a few of the larger cities on my way to Dartmouth, I feel like being in them 24/7 would be stressful. There's a sense of pure bliss here that I don't think you could replicate anywhere else. When you're stressed over deadlines or you're just plain burnt-out, you can always open your window or take a brisk walk across campus and see the surrounding mountains and a beautiful New Hampshire sunset. It truly is something special. Just take a look for yourself!
Snowy view from the Shattuck Observatory!
Snowy pictures of the woods just yards from my apartment is something I cherish.
I had to include a selfie as a sort of validation / signature. Dartmouth is Gavin-approved for sure!
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!
