Hey! I'm Owen from Hollywood, Florida and I'm a '24. My favorite activities are listening to music, running, and reading the same books over and over again. I'm an Earth Science modified with Physics major and Biology minor who loves "The New Yorker," the outdoors, and reading. On campus, I'm involved with hydrological research, the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science, Hillel, Greek Life, and—obviously—this blog!
Academic Program
Major in Earth Science modified with Physics & a Minor in Biology
A freshman-only introductory biology class taught by an amazing professor who's super invested and wants students to make friends and develop a love of cell biology.
A really cool introductory Earth Science course that taught the basics of geology, Earth history, and paleontology: all in one super accessible course.
This class taught us the basics of the R programming language in order to use it to analyze real-life hydrologic data. In class, we got to analyze datasets about rain, river discharge, flooding, and acid rain, using only the skills we gained from this course with no prerequisites.
This discussion-based geography class was my first interaction with the Geography Department, which other students have been raving to me about. The class, which is cross-listed with African-American Studies, analyzes how locations shape black embodiment and identity. Super cool stuff!
With the weather slowly turning towards spring and midterms (mostly) over, my friends and I decided to take a little trip down to the stream for some swimming. Around a 15-minute walk from campus, Mink Brook is a pretty site to take in some nature and—weather permitting—maybe taking a swim. After seeing that the weather was 65 degrees and sunny, my friends and I met up in front of the Collis Center before heading down main street on-route to the stream.
Taking in the sunshine while walking through Hanover, we chatted, spotted at some dogs (they were all over campus today), and I mentioned some of the fun facts I'd learned about Mink Brook in my hydrology class. Arriving to the trail down to the brook, we were shocked to find super low water levels and tons of really sticky mud. We got into our bathing suits and got ready to get in when we discovered that the water was still ice-cold.
My friends posed for a picture before we headed into the river!
While not perfect conditions for swimming, we still had fun splashing around Mink Brook and enjoying the sun. Since the water level was so low, there were little sand-bar type islands all over and hanging out on them was cool; they sort of brought me back to those Florida vibes. After hanging out on the island for a bit, my friend Ruby and I decided to attempt to swim, so we mentally prepared for the freezing water and waded in. The water was definitely cold, but—after getting used to the water for a bit—it wasn't really that bad.
All in all, a pretty chill Sunday afternoon at Mink Brook and a really great reminder of one my favorite parts of going to Dartmouth: the unparalleled access to the outdoors. Living in Hanover means having nearly unlimited access to the outdoor, a huge perk that can't be ignored! We have so many hiking trails, biking routes, rivers, running paths, and so much more to explore: totally accessible to students living in the area.
