Hello there! My name is Shuyi and I'm a '23, which means it's my first year here at Dartmouth! I'm having a lot of fun exploring campus, meeting all the wonderful people here, and trying new things! At Dartmouth, I enjoy playing squash, eating at late night, and of course, blogging. You can ask me about studying social sciences, coming to Dartmouth as an international student, and anything else really. I hope you enjoy the blog!
I finally took advantage of Dartmouth's location this weekend and went skiing for the first time this year! The 10-week term goes by fast, so when I saw that I had some free time this weekend, I jumped at the opportunity to take a little ski vacation. It's amazing how easy it is to go skiing at Dartmouth, and there are a bunch of trails available.
Personally, I decided to not go to the Dartmouth Skiway this weekend and instead went to Vermont, where one of my friends has a house. Most people go to the Dartmouth Skiway, though, as it's only 15 minutes away from campus and there are shuttles that take students there. I thought it would be a good idea to get away from campus for a few days, so I was happy to go up north a bit more. Initially, we thought we would have to Uber to Vermont, but there's a public bus transportation system that is super cheap and convenient. I got on the bus at the Hanover Inn, which is a five-minute walk from my dorm, and the bus took me straight to Randolph, where the ski trails are.
Beautiful views
It's super cool how students at Dartmouth can go skiing basically whenever they want. For example, my roommate took a trip up to Vermont for MLK weekend. Last week, a classmate of mine went skiing in the morning and made our class in the afternoon! There's nothing like forgetting about your worries and going down the mountain, and I'm so grateful I can do that at any time here.
If you don't know how to ski, that's not a problem either! There are classes you can sign up for, and the ski instructors are students that you can get to know! One of my friends is a ski instructor and he's a super nice and cool guy. He got to campus early just for ski training, and he's definitely prepared to take inexperienced skiers around the slopes.
Most students at Dartmouth know how to ski, but that's not because people come in knowing how to. Rather, since skiing (or snowboarding) is super accessible and easy at Dartmouth, a lot of people get around to it eventually. I know I'll definitely be skiing more this winter, and I'm excited to see how much I improve over the next four years. I hope to see you on the trails!
One of the most interesting classes I have taken so far at Dartmouth has been PBPL 5: Introduction to Public Policy, which is taught by Professor Charles Wheelan.
I have written a few posts about transitioning to the Northeast weather, but after this winter term, I thought I would talk about how I stayed active outside this year! If you're nervous about everything snow at Dartmouth, I hope this helps!
Even if I won't see my fellows NADs (our powerful Indigenous community), Questies (Questbridge ʻ23s represent!), and First-Generation Low-Income (FGLI) folks for a little while, you should all know that you make Dartmouth a wonderful place to be.
When I think of "old" at Dartmouth, I think of the many parts of campus that are rich in history. So this week, I went around to a couple of locations on campus to capture some of the historical parts of campus and their history.
It's almost the end of my first winter here in Hanover, but that doesn't mean my friends and I didn't hop on the opportunity to go check out some ice castles an hour and a half north of us.
Pond Party is a family-friendly Winter Carnival tradition, hosted by the town of Hanover. It takes place at Occom, a pond set within a residential area south of the Dartmouth golf course and north of the main campus.
I'm currently taking my off-term (meaning not on-campus) interning at the Fogarty International Center, which is part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Here's a glimpse into the day-to-day happenings.
Beautiful views 
