A bridge in the Penang Botanical Gardens

Oscar Chun

Class of 2028
Oscar smiling in front of a camera
Bio 

Hi everyone! I'm Oscar, a '28 from Flushing, NYC. On campus you'll find me studying in Novack, lounging in the First Generation Office, or designing for the DALI Lab. I'm passionate about giving back to my community, fiber arts, and em dashes. Welcome to my blog—I'm excited to explore Dartmouth together!

Academic Program 

Cognitive Science

Favorite Thing Right Now 

Cooking in my dorm

Hometown 

Flushing, New York

Pronouns 

Any pronouns

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A hand holding two apples against a sky and grass field background

Fall-tivities: Apple Picking!

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The trees are putting on red, orange, and yellow hues, and the air has started to cool. Autumn has landed in the Upper Valley. One thing I was nervous about when applying to Dartmouth was its location. What am I supposed to do in the woods? Our campus is relatively detached from major cities—located in the rural town of Hanover, New Hampshire, which is three hours away from Boston and six from NYC. As someone who has lived in a city all of my life, I find it weird to be able to walk across the whole town in under 30 minutes. But this change of location offers really unique experiences. Apple picking is one of them! 

Recently, the First Generation Office invited students on a trip to Patch Orchards, a family-owned apple orchard in West Lebanon, NH, less than an hour from campus. Patch Orchards also produces maple syrup, makes its own apple cider, and has a corn maze in the fall. The apples we picked and refreshments of an apple cider donut and a cup of apple cider were covered by the FGO. 

A view of the landscape from Patch Orchards, a multicolored forest of trees is in the foreground, with mountains in the background.
The view from Patch Orchards!
A view of the decorations inside the store, cow figurines, milk jugs, and a vase of flowers on top of a shelf
We first stopped by the store to get our apple picking bags and donuts.
A two-tiered shelf, with the bottom shelf full of bags of already picked apples, two signs hang over the lower shelf labeled "Paulared" and "Macoun", which are apple varieties. The upper shelf decorated with cow figurines
Patch Orchards offers a variety of apple types, like Paulared and Macoun. Recently in my Writing 5 Class, Food for Thought, I talked about biodiversity—particularly in apple varieties, so it was really cool to see them represented in local farms
A two-tiered shelf, both shelves filled with maple-leaf shaped bottles of syrup and larger jugs
Patch Orchards also makes maple syrup! I was super tempted to buy one just for the bottle.
A close up shot of a pile of apples
Tons of pre-picked apples ready for sale!
Trees are lined up in parallel rows. The frontmost row has a sign labeled "GALA", an apple variety.
A view of the orchard—each row was a different variety, including Gala, Fuji, McIntosh, Cortland, and Paulared
A view of an apple tree and a black and white sign labeled "MCINTOSH" against the sky
We first stopped by the McIntosh row.
A person reaches up to pick an apple from the tree
The trees were covered in apples—I didn't know they grew so densely.
A close up shot of an apple tree branch, the apples are bright red against the sky
Close up shot of the apples :)
A black and white sign labeled "GALA" hangs from an apple tree
Next stop: Gala apples
On the left side, two students are eating apples, on the right is a person drinking from a paper cup. They are standing in front of an apple tree.
Pause: apple taste test!
Three paper bags filled with apples
Our apple haul! The apple in the upper bag was weirdly shiny?
Oscar and Wica pose for a picture in front of an apple tree
An appreciation photo for my friends who I went apple picking with :)
Dezstany (another Peoples Places Pines blogger) poses in the middle of two rows of apple trees
Dezstany (another Peoples Places Pines blogger)!
Wica and Hannah pose in a photo opportunity inspired by the painting "American Gothic" by Grant Wood
Wica and Hannah posing!
Dezstany, Wica, and Hannah walk into the entrance of the corn maze labeled "START" on a white sign with black lettering. Wica's hand is outstretched to touch the sign.
We ended our trip by trying the corn maze!
Dezstany, Wica, and Hannah walk single file in the corn maze. The forest and sky are visible in the background.
Spoiler alert: we didn't make it out :|
Two bags are in frame. On the right is a brown paper bag of apples, on the left is a cream-colored tote bag decorated with keychains and pins.
After a long morning of snacking, apple picking, and getting lost in the corn maze, we head back to campus.

It's been a huge change of pace from NYC to Hanover, but I'm excited to embrace the Upper Valley's unique charm.

Posted 10/15/2024 at 2:01 PMAll Text Posts

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