I'm Kalina, a '27 from Sofia, Bulgaria. I love books (I love reading and writing them), and I particularly love fantasy (i.e., I'm an expert on Middle Earth and Hogwarts studies). I'm equally fascinated by the human brain and storytelling, and I often think about the importance of stories when trying to understand the human mind. I also love hiking, bird-watching, climbing, and em dashes.
You know these online articles that go like, "100 Incredible Things to Do Before You Die" or "The Best Things to Do Before You Die"? Well, I haven't lived long enough to tell you what to do before you die, but I can tell you what to do before you graduate from Dartmouth.
I asked several of my older friends at Dartmouth what THEY have on their Dartmouth Bucket Lists, so today I'll be sharing the results of my little inquiry. While looking at my new Dartmouth Bucket List, though, I realized that the friends I had asked were mainly DOC friends (DOC = Dartmouth Outing Club). Other themes will follow, don't worry! I promise, I'll befriend people who don't live solely for "the seas and the mountains," to quote another DOC friend. I'll come up with a better Bucket List, but until then…
THE DARTMOUTH BUCKET LIST, DOC EDITION
Go on a Break Trip
Completely subsidized by the DOC, break trips are several-day trips that happen during the breaks (hence break trips) and can take you to cool places like Maine, Utah, the Rio Grande in Texas, and even Ecuador (these are all locations for this winter break's break trips).
Lead a Break Trip
Or just become a DOC trip leader. To become a trip leader, you need to attend some seminars, get a WFA (wilderness first aid certification), show them you can build a fire… and some other things that I don't remember right now.
Go on a DOC Formal
What's a DOC formal? It's basically like a DOC party. I think. I still haven't been to one.
Go to the Dartmouth Skiway
Dartmouth has its own ski way? Uh-huh.
Visit the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge
The Lodge is very close to Mount Moosilauke. Every fall, it welcomes Dartmouth undergrads, grads and alums for delicious meals and starry nights spent in the cabins that are part of the complex.
(Sunrike) Mount Moosilauke
According to Dartmouth Outdoors, Mount Moosilauke "has been the spiritual home of Dartmouth's out-of-doors for over one hundred years." And what does a sunrike mean? A sunrise hike.
Visit Gile Mountain during the peak-foliage time
Come October and New Hampshire is just gorgeous. ThisPeople Places Pines post sums it up really well. (It's another sunrike!)
Hike the Fifty
The Fifty is a ~50-mile-hike, from the Lodge (see #5) to Robinson Hall (the DOC's home) in Hanover. And you do it all in one go. Check out Luke Grayson's blog post about the Fifty. You'll get goosebumps.
Hike the Terrifying 25
I first heard about the Terrifying 25 during a Cabin and Trail meeting (CnT is a sub-club of the DOC). The Terrifying 25 are 25 challenging hikes in New Hampshire. I still haven't met anyone who's done them all. (I haven't been looking hard enough, that's it.)
Do an Overnight Trip
Spend a night in a cabin in the woods (Dartmouth's got plenty of cabins, free to rent for current Dartmouth students) or in a tent. Or just under the stars. You'll have plenty of options for overnight trips with the DOC.
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Sarah Getraer '26, a studio art major, showed me around her dorm room, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
Senior spring is here and it is surreal to reflect on how much my daily routine has evolved. We have just welcomed the Class of 2030, and I am so incredibly excited for the next generation of Dartmouth students to find their home in Hanover!
