Rails and Trails (Part 3 of 3): Coming Home
Hi from West Glacier, Montana! I am boarding my Amtrak back to Boston in a couple of hours, and I wanted to sit down and write these posts before I forget any details. You might ask yourself, "Why is Julia in Montana and getting on an Amtrak?" I'm on a break trip! The Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) sponsors a smattering of student-led trips around the world throughout the year, and I was lucky enough to join seven of my classmates on an epic backpacking adventure to Glacier National Park. The catch is that we only use public transportation leaving from Boston, hence the Amtrak! It has been such a great adventure that I feel compelled to write three blog posts about it. This is my third and final post, so feel free to go back to my profile to read about the trip's sense of place (part 1) and my wonderful trippees (part 2). I wanted to close out with what I'm taking into the new term, thanks to this trip (both physically and metaphorically, of course).
I'll let you in on a bit of a secret: my first year at Dartmouth wasn't flawless. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I was and what my interests would be in college. I attended countless club meetings and tried out for a million different groups. I got a taste of student leadership through Class Council, working through this job(!) and tour guiding, and spending time outdoors through the Viva Hardigg Outdoors Club (a sub-club of the Dartmouth Outing Club). I worked at The Dartmouth (our college newspaper) and participated in various Dartmouth Center for Social Impact clubs. By the time that summer came around, I was excited to take some time away from my commitments to think about which activities I wanted to stay involved in for sophomore year. I knew that I would have to pick and choose in order to make my schedule feel manageable again. Then, I went on this trip.
Pretty early on, it became clear to me that while the trip's primary goal was to help a good group of kids have fun while backpacking through Glacier National Park; the secondary goal was for any non-Cabin and Trail (another Dartmouth Outing Club sub-club) trippees to be involved in CnT by the time the trip ended. During dinners, our trip leaders named Kelby and Grace would remind us that we, too, could be eating this same meal at a CnT feed in the fall with the same wonderful company (feeds are weekly dinner programs prepared by club members of specific Dartmouth Outing Club sub-clubs at both off- and on-campus houses around Hanover). Whether it was the delicious sweet potato soup or the fun conversation, I came to realize that joining CnT was a non-negotiable for the fall. By the end of our 50 miles of backpacking, I was promoted to CnT feed chair. I could not be more excited.
I think this story overwhelmingly represents the endless opportunities Dartmouth students have. There is always another niche for you, another community that wants to bring you in. In fact, saying no to opportunities becomes far harder than finding opportunities in the first place.
So yes, I may have a busier fall term than I originally planned for. I will have to rework my schedule for the tenth time to make sure that I have enough time to rest, play, and learn, but I wouldn't have it any other way.