Welcome to the woods! My name is Natalie and I'm from California (3035 miles away from Dartmouth)! I'm a political science and crossword puzzle nerd who's excited to dive into the millions of activities we have on campus. I'm a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major at Dartmouth, and am considering both a History and Human-Centered Design minor. I'm also the President of the Parliamentary Debate team! Go Big Green!
Hi everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful beginning to your fall! Today was a perfect fall day at Dartmouth, and we had our famous annual New England Harvest Dinner, which was a huge success.
I'm so excited to share my day with you. Let's jump right in!
Michael holding his pumpkin from Dartmouth Dining!
I started my day by grabbing a quick bite with my friend Michael at our main dining hall, the Class of 1953 Commons. Dartmouth students affectionately call it FoCo, which I recently learned is short for food court. Dartmouth Dining Services was handing out mini pumpkins before the Harvest dinner, so we grabbed some as decorations for our dorm. I've decided I'm going to put mine on the mantel of my fireplace (Did you know some dorms at Dartmouth have fireplaces?)
My favorite study spot on campus, the 1913 room.
After breakfast, I decided to hit the books before my first class. I headed to the 1913 room in Baker Library, which is full of comfy chairs and great vibes for studying. I reviewed for my Government midterm on Friday and applied for a Winter Break backpacking trip through the Dartmouth Outing Club! Honestly, a productive morning!
After my study sesh, I walked to class: Government 004: Politics of the World. The class was fascinating today. We discussed how social media influenced the protests of the Arab Spring and Professor Horowitz dismissed us a few minutes early so we could go enjoy the perfect fall weather.
A perfect fall day on campus!
I grabbed a post-class coffee at Ramekin, the brand-new cafe inside Dartmouth's new building, Anonymous Hall.
I took my coffee walking around campus for a study break and to appreciate some of the crazy fall foliage on Dartmouth's campus right now. As a West Coaster, and all the evergreen trees in California, I'm not used to seeing all the leaves change color! It's a pretty phenomenal sight.
Another perfect autumnal tree!
Then, it was finally time for our Fall Harvest Dinner! Dartmouth Dining Services hosts all the local farms and dairies in New England. We got to pet a cow and two goats! It was all very exciting. Dinner was amazing, with short ribs, clams, fresh apple cobbler, caramel apples, cheese and crackers, and all the autumnal vibes. I can see why this is a favorite Dartmouth dinner for a reason!
Petting the goat at the petting zoo!
My friends and I took our food upstairs and ate together, then made sure to stop by the photo booth on our way out.
The Fall Harvest Photobooth was a huge hit!
I ended the night studying and chatting with my roommate, and writing this article for all of y'all! Hopefully, tomorrow is equally good :).
This fall, Dartmouth provided me with incredible opportunities to get involved in politics. I registered as a New Hampshire voter, joined civic organizations, canvassed, and more! Read on to follow my journey leading up to Election Day!
