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!
When I first came to Dartmouth and watched my grandparents, who raised me my entire life, wheel away on the Dartmouth Coach to catch a flight taking them over 1,000 miles away, I didn't think too much about it. I was captivated by all the gorgeous buildings, the crisp New Hampshire sky, and my first New England sunset. Looking back, I don't know how I wasn't scared to death. I was completely on my own for the first time in my life. All the actions I would take from that moment forward had direct implications on my life and I guess I didn't realize that.
In hindsight, the transition was the easy part because it was filled with meeting new people, countless campus activities, and the like. The hardest part about transitioning to college were the few weeks after the "move-in adrenaline buzz" finally died down. For me, this involved figuring out what my routine was going to look like, how my week would play out, the jobs I would take up, and the extracurriculars I would dedicate myself to. Most of these aspects of my college life involved a lot of alone time. I would be eating at a table in the FOCO dining hall (filled with people) by myself, walking across campus with only the thoughts in my head, and studying with only my cup of coffee as company. After I realized this, I began to question if I had played my cards right, if I made a big enough effort to make friends. Did anyone want to hang out with me? Why did I feel alone?
Speaking of FOCO, here's a meal that truly makes me happy :)
These are rhetorical questions, of course. What I failed to ask myself, were questions like: Are you confident enough to be independent? Have you achieved self-love before putting yourself around others? Do you like who you are? Those are answerable questions I should have asked myself. I don't know what to make of the concept "fate," but I truly believe I found myself alone for a reason. I think I was meant to truly love myself and be comfortable with being independent before I began forming my trusted friend groups. And they came. I formed bonds with some amazing people, and they enjoyed me for who I am. It took me quite some time, but I think I homed in on my ability to love myself and appreciate the person I will turn out to be.
What I want to get across to you is this: Please don't think it's wrong to be by yourself for a while, especially in your first weeks in college. In fact, I would say that if you don't spend some time alone and introspect, you are not taking advantage of being able to truly figure out what your interests are and what makes you happy. Once I figured out that I would prioritize my happiness in life and the happiness of those closest to me, is when I started my journey of true mental health here at Dartmouth. My story is not meant to be yours, but in whatever manner it happens, know it's for a reason.
Witnessing an eclipse was one of the most exciting days in my life to date, and a solid reminder of our place in this universe. Read on to hear about it!
Planning on visiting Dartmouth as a prospective student or an interested person wanting to see our beautiful campus? In this post, I share insider tips to ensure your visit is fulfilled!
Coming back from Spring break usually means coming back to an entirely different campus than the one you left in the Winter – but that was not the case this year! Read on to hear more...
