Hi there!! My name is Martin, and I'm thrilled to be a '27 blogger for People Places Pines! A small rural town in Maine called Veazie is where I call home, and I can't wait to tell you about what life at Dartmouth is like! Carving the slopes in the winter, hiking through woods in autumn, or basking in the Green in spring and summer, that's where you'll find me! Stay tuned for everything Big Green!
In this course, we covered all the basics of ecology: how organisms interact with each other and with their ecosystems. My favorite parts of the class were the labs: they took place outside and we explored ecological concepts around campus!
This course was on everything energy: how we use it, how we generate it, and how we can improve our current energy systems in light of climate change. We visited nearby energy systems, including Dartmouth's very own heating and energy facilities. This course was awesome!
This was a project-based class where we chose an important issue and then designed a solution, using the principles and methods we learned in class. My group made a smart trash can to make recycling easier!
Like many students at Dartmouth, I played a sport all throughout high school and middle school—so when I came to Dartmouth, I wanted to continue it! For me, the sport was swimming. Luckily, Dartmouth has a Club Swim Team! I joined in the fall (my first fall) and have been swimming with the team since. Let me tell you a little more about it.
Dartmouth has a lot of "club" team sports—and swimming is just one of them. Club sports here are an extracurricular opportunity to either continue playing a sport in college or try out a brand new one—below the "Division 1" sports level. Here, you can find a club sport for nearly anything… from Club Soccer to a Club Triathlon team. Most club sports are a small time commitment—they can range in how "serious" they are. Some are more popular, and in those cases, they may expect a bigger commitment from their members—as they frequently go to competitions to compete with other college club teams. Some are much more casual, like Club Swim! Either way, there's always the opportunity for intramural sports, in case you're looking for an even more casual way to simply kick a ball around or have some fun with your friends.
The reason I love it so much is because it's a great way to stay active without a huge time commitment. Playing a sport usually requires lots of practice and consistent training, so as someone who can only make a few practices a week, I really appreciate the opportunity to still be on the team despite not being able to go to every practice.
Here's a pic of our team making a stop at chipotle after one of our meets!
Club Swim was one of the first ways I made friends at Dartmouth. On the team, I met other '27s and met upper-level students who wanted to continue swimming in college like me. With the exception of a few more competitive club teams, that's how most club sports here are—and that's really important. Dartmouth's abundance of club sports and fitness activities gives students tons of opportunities to explore their athletic interests while still focusing on their academics. I found that in the Club Swim team, but other students have found it through Club Squash, Club Ski, Club Badminton, Club Fencing, and many others!
For Club Swim, we usually go to about one swim meet (competition) a term. Last term, our meet was at UMass Amherst. Each spring, we attend the annual "Ivies" club swim meet—where we compete against every other Ivy League club swim team—it's usually held at Harvard.
Here's a pic from the meet at UMass Amherst. It was packed with several other club swim teams!
Club Swim accepts any and every new member—regardless of previous swimming experience. That's how most club sports teams here are, and I encourage you to join one if you come to Dartmouth and you're passionate about a sport—or simply want to try one out. Hopefully this gave you some more info on what Club Swim and club sports at Dartmouth are like. Maybe someday you'll see me on the club swim team if you join!
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
