First, I'll explain who I am. I'm Nicholas Sugiarto, a '23 from San Diego, California. Second, a quick disclaimer. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Prior to Dartmouth, I've never hiked, skied, or seen snow. So yeah, you could say that Dartmouth is quite a bit different from what I'm used to. You'll probably find me on campus lost. I have no sense of direction. Please help.
3:00pm: Lunch at FOCO (Dartmouth's all you can eat buffet.)
8:00pm: Gym
9:00pm: Meet up with one friend at said gym, come up with some weird excuse to go to her dorm where about 10 of her friends are hiding with a pie from Lou's and multiple packets of Indomie.
So yeah, not exactly your typical Dartmouth Tuesday.
Party supplies!
I should explain. A week before the big day, a few friends and I discovered that one of our good friends was celebrating her birthday soon. Obviously, she had no idea that we knew, so we wanted to find a way to surprise her. On the big day, we got the aforementioned multiberry pie, some plates and utensils, and a large quantity of my personal favorite— Indomie.
For the uninitiated, Indomie is only the greatest brand of instant noodles that have ever graced the Earth. Granted, they're Indonesian like me, so I'm biased, but I think my point still stands. As for Lou's, that's one of Hanover's local diners with such good food. I can't do it justice with words. You'll have to try it yourself.
Back to the story. Around Monday night, through some clever Google calendar stalking, we found out that our friend was going to the gym on Tuesday at 8:30. So, when I saw her in class that day, I ever-so-subtly asked her:
"Hey, you going to the gym today?"
"Yeah. 8:30."
"Oh, cool. You mind if I come with?" (Nailed it!)
Now the hard part. As we were about to leave the gym, I had to make up some excuse to go back to her dorm:
"Hey, do you mind if we go back to your dorm first? Your roommate texted me saying that I left my Nalgene water bottle there."
Where's my Oscar?
I don't like to risk getting hair in my food when I'm cooking, so I generally wear a headband. Hence, that's why I'm currently dressed as a ninja
Once there, as she opened the door, the ten of her friends (all crammed into a tiny closet) jumped out and surprised her. She was so surprised, in fact, that her first reaction was to turn to me and ask:
"Wait, where's your water bottle?"
We had a good time, though! I cooked the noodles while we all sat and chatted around the pie.
Stuff like this is exactly what I'm loving about Dartmouth right now. I think the people here genuinely care. A lot of us here devote a lot of our time to academics, especially on a weekday night. But, at the same time, people here also care, hence why they'll drop all that to make a friend feel at home. It creates a sort of kind and welcoming atmosphere that I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Even if it means stalking your friend's Google calendar and lying to their face about where you left your water bottle.
And finally, if you're reading this (and you know who you are): Happy 18th!
While many people might associate cold, long, snowy winters with hardship, I've found that winter at Dartmouth is full of potential to be just as fun as other seasons.
