Hi, my name is Liliana (or Lili, for short) and I'm a '26 from Hawaiʻi! On campus, I can be found performing with my dance troupe, hanging out with friends, and testing out food hacks at Foco. I also love collectible stickers, iced matcha with peppermint syrup, cute dogs on the streets of Hanover, and ultra-specific Spotify playlists. Excited to share my Dartmouth journey with you all! :)
Dartmouth's 10-week terms seem to go by in a flash. (Time flies when you're having fun!) Before I know it, the time has come to travel 5,000 miles back home to Hawai'i. At first mention, this journey seems daunting - but Dartmouth does its best to provide resources for safe travels.
My flight to Honolulu was out of Boston, which meant I first had to travel two hours from Hanover to Boston Logan. The Dartmouth Coach, a premier bus service running between New York City, Boston, and the Upper Valley, took me straight from Dartmouth's campus to my airport terminal! The bus ride to Boston takes around 2-3 hours depending on traffic - and it's a nice bus too, decked out with Wi-Fi, a complimentary movie, outlets, and a bathroom.
When I was still deciding where to go to college, safety was really important to my family and I. While visiting Dartmouth, I remember seeing the stop for the Dartmouth Coach, which is right on campus, within walking distance from the Green! (Since this visit in 2021, the stop has actually been relocated to an even more campus-central location, right outside of Rauner Library.) Knowing that I could use a trusted and reliable bus service right from campus was definitely a plus. The bus is usually full of Dartmouth students, but it's always interesting to see Upper Valley residents, too!
The Dartmouth Coach is not free for students, but should a student need financial assistance for transportation, Dartmouth can provide them the resources needed! Sometimes, Dartmouth even holds a lottery of a sort for students to win free coach tickets. Since the coach is the primary form of transportation off campus into major cities, it's not uncommon to constantly see students waiting at the bus stop, day and night- the Coach runs every single day!
But back to the bus ride. After two hours, I was dropped off at my airport terminal and I proceeded to take a 10 hour nonstop flight back to Honolulu. I write this blog from the comfort of my home, where I can sleep on a full-sized bed and shower without shower shoes.
It's easy to forget how easy it is to access walking trails during the hustle of a Dartmouth term. As graduation nears, I am reminded of how special it is to step off campus and enjoy quiet moments in nature.
With a solar eclipse sweeping across North America for the first time in nearly seven years on April 8th came a road-trip with hundreds of other Dartmouth students to a zone of totality near campus: St. Johnsbury, Vermont!
