Howdy! My name is Crystal and I'm a '28 from 1899.2 miles away in Fulshear, Texas hoping to study Biology on the pre-health track. Outside of being on the grind in my classes at Dartmouth, I enjoy dancing (poorly and with dance groups on campus), cooking (microwave oatmeal), and taking Buzzfeed quizzes to find out what breakfast food I am. While I'll miss Bucc-ee's and brisket from my native state, I'm beyond excited to explore all that the woods have to offer! Hopefully I'll see y'all around!
My move to Dartmouth was a journey. From creating multiple lists of "dorm essentials" to vacuum sealing my clothes to dragging my suitcases up to my room, it's safe to say that by the end of move-in day, I was more than ready to sleep through the rest of orientation. Yet somehow, I found myself dancing my heart out on Gold Coast Lawn at the crack of dawn the following morning. So, how exactly did I get here?
Sometime in June, I received an email from the Outdoor Programs Office inviting me to register forFirst Year Trips(FYT), an appropriately named trip for first-year students at Dartmouth organized through theDartmouth Outing Club (DOC). Along with a small group of other first years, I was assigned to the Most Strenuous Hiking FYT, but if that's not really your style, there are tons of other options, from exploring atDartmouth's Organic Farm to Fly Fishing to "Cabin Camping and Jamming." For about four days, students explore Hanover and the upper valley beyond campus and form bonds with one another that truly can't be replicated anywhere else.
Back to the lawn...
After strapping on my framepack and lacing up my boots, I met my trip leaders and trippees, and we ran through the typical orientation week introductions and danced like there was no tomorrow. Four hours later, we found ourselves on a bus shuttling off to hike a segment of the Appalachian Trail, now loaded up with all of our essential trip gear, including (but certainly not limited to) hummus, sun butter, pita bread, and so many raw carrots and apples. I had honestly not hiked to this extent before, and certainly never with a framepack, but I found myself really enjoying the experience as I got to see New Hampshire from a completely different perspective. In the moments when I wasn't completely out of breath, I found myself forming new relationships with my trip group as we told stories about ourselves, learned more about campus life, and created inside jokes that I really don't think I can explain.
The morning after our first night camping outside! I think I accidentally kicked people in my sleep (oops)!
In the evenings, we devoured boxes of Annie's Mac and Cheese and talked in a circle illuminated only by our headlamps before tucking into sleeping bags under a tarp. Highlights of camping outside include drinking iodine water, eating too many jelly beans and corn nuts, and hoisting our toothpaste onto a tree so that bears wouldn't attack us. Now that I'm reading this out, I realize just how unique of an orientation tradition this is!
Taken from the campsite on the second day, this view was incredible and put me in a great mood for the rest of the day. Fun fact: This picture was shot at 7:30 am!
Our last day of hiking culminated in reaching theMoosilauke Ravine Lodge, where we got to meet up with the other groups in our section, eat some delicious meals (courtesy of the lodge crew), and dance into the wee hours of the morning. But the real treat was reaching the summit of Mount Moosilauke, where we stopped for lunch and soaked in a truly stunning view of New Hampshire. Seeing the view made all of the hiking that we had done completely worth it, and I am so glad that I got to experience it with a new group of friends!
Dinner at the lodge (lodj)! Key players include lentil soup, lasagna, brownies, and ice cream.
So I'm hoping that I've convinced you at this point to go on a First Year Trip when you have the opportunity! I feel like it took me out of my comfort zone and molded me into the kind of person that I've always wanted to be. While the trip itself was simply a drop in the sea of experiences I'll have in my next four years, the ripples that it has caused will stay with me beyond my time here!
During our second night, I cooked up a red bell pepper sausage curry over rice that was perfectly paired with jelly beans! #delish
With all the amazing dining options Dartmouth has to offer, rest assured you will not go hungry on this campus! In this blog post, I will be discussing one of my favorite dining locations, Collis Café, with you.
I'm so happy I chose Dartmouth, as it offers unparalleled access to the beautiful outdoors. Click on this blog post to read a poem I wrote in appreciation of nature and Dartmouth!
