Matthew Monroe

One of the biggest activities I’ve totally missed is lighting a production of Dance Nation for Displaced, our student-run theatre group. I was able to get on the lightboard in one of Dartmouth’s on-campus black box spaces and help put together an exciting show! It was fantastic getting to put my love for lighting design to use, and through talking with other people involved with the technical production aspects of Dartmouth’s theatre productions, I’ve learned much more about what the department and student-run organizations offer. I plan on continuing my involvement by taking a lighting design class next term!

This past week was the first snowfall of the school year in Hanover! Being from Florida, I have minimal experience with snow, and waking up to find campus covered in a beautiful layer of fresh powder was so exciting for me and other people from warmer climates! I made snow angels, made footprint drawings, and even started a snowball fight with a few friends (great practice for the campus-wide snowball fight at the start of winter term!) Although it isn’t forecasted to snow again before I head back to Florida, getting a little taste of what winter term has to offer was so amazing.

As the term comes to a close, I’ve had the opportunity to spend some non-academic time with people from my classes! The most fun was getting dinner with the people from my drill session, essentially an extra language practice class you take in addition to your intro-sequence language courses. We headed to Han Fusion, a Chinese restaurant in Hanover to have a meal together. I haven’t spent too much time in Hanover, so I’d yet to eat at Han Fusion, and it was really tasty! A welcome break after ten weeks in the dining hall.

Towards the end of each term, many student involvement groups at Dartmouth host formals, fun nights where you dress up, eat dinner, and dance with other people from your activity! Although Mock Trial’s formal doesn’t happen until Spring Term, I had the opportunity to go as a plus one to a formal for one of my friends. It was lots of fun and allowed me to meet many new people.

Something that I’ve recently discovered a love for is running! Back home, I was really into exercising, but I never really ran outside of an occasional treadmill jog. At Dartmouth, the walkability of campus and the easy access to natural areas and trails make running way more enjoyable than at home. I’ve recently been using my runs to explore different areas of campus and of Hanover, giving me a chance to see parts of the school and surrounding community I would miss during a typical school day. 

Dartmouth has a huge variety of student performance groups that put on shows basically every week! From sketch comedy to a capella, improv, and dance, there’s always a fun student performance happening somewhere on campus. I’ve had the opportunity to see a bunch of different dance groups or an improv show. Although, I haven’t made it to an a capella show yet (embarrassing for me)... it’s at the top of my bucket list for next term!

There’s a whole lot more I’ve had going on, but I can only fit so much in a blog post. I’ve had a great term, and although I’m excited to relax and recharge over winterim (Dartmouth's "winter interim" break), I can’t wait to see what winter term has in store for me!