Welcome to the woods! Dartmouth is hands-down my favorite place, and I look forward to coming back every term. I'm not even kidding. After a day and a half of traveling, I step off the Dartmouth Coach and breathe in the crisp Hanover air. Dragging my two humongous suitcases, I trudge across campus, climb three flights of stairs, fumble for the key in my pocket, and finally open the door to my new corner dorm. I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of my bare twin XL mattress.
It's spring!!! The Green is green again, the sky is still bright blue at 6.30 P.M., and everyone is outside enjoying natural Vitamin D. Dartmouth's spring term is rumored to be the happiest term on campus, and so far, I totally agree.
My third Thursday of the term started at 9.15 A.M. per usual, except it was a warm, beautiful day outside. In fact, this was probably the first time the temperature reached 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) in months! I peeked outside my window to see people in shorts and sundresses, so obviously I had to dress accordingly. Around 30 minutes before my first class started, I made my way to the library and grabbed a bagel and a strawberry acai lemonade from Novack Café. I continued watching Gilmore Girls season 3 while waiting for my QSS 17 (Data Visualization) class to start. This class is in the 10A time block, which means that it runs from 10.10 A.M. to noon twice a week. Although it's a really long period, I genuinely relish every single minute I spend working on coding problems in class. By the end of this challenging work session, my classmates and I were in desperate need of food.
Walking to class in sunglasses
We immediately made our way to Collis Center for some freshly made stir fry takeouts. I always order white rice with vegetables, steak, General Tso's sauce, and two sunny-side up eggs. Lastly, I top it off with Sriracha sauce and it's actually amazing. The scene outside Collis was something you'd see on Dartmouth's Instagram page—the Green was packed with students studying, sunbathing, catching frisbees, and just enjoying the warmth. Needless to say, my friends and I would not miss out on this cliché (in a good way) scene, so we headed outside to join the sea of people.
Reading a book on the Green
Following our scrumptious lunch, we decided to be academic weapons and do our work in the middle of the Green. To be honest, I didn't get a lot of anything done except reading a chapter of Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Lifeby Kenneth Gross for my first-year seminar course. Productive! Anyways, my friend and I headed to the Academic Skills Center on FFB (first floor of Berry Library) to grab some free snacks and face masks. On top of that, they have massage chairs and it was an extremely relaxing 15 minutes of my day.
My next class was QSS 30.04 (Evolutionary Game Theory and Applications). It's a 2-hour long lecture, but the class is helpful and always interesting. I love our professor. I ended my day with my first-year seminar class, Global Traditions of Puppetry, where we watched a 100-year-old shadow puppet show. As my day came to end, I walked out of class to be greeted by the most beautiful sunset ever!
The beautiful sunset over Tuck Drive
I have really high hopes for the rest of my freshman year. I'm so looking forward to swimming in the river and singing at Green Key while also acing all my classes, of course. This term is going to be awesome.
One of my greatest privileges at Dartmouth has been learning from Professor Ed. Miller of the History and Asian Studies departments. Read on to learn more about why he is my favorite professor!
The Sri Lankan New Year falls on the 13th and 14th of April, a time for plenty of celebrations and family time. At Dartmouth, I keep these traditions with my friends and celebrate a part of home every year!
