Luana Neves

A Day in the Life: Fall Edition

Adapting to your first Dartmouth term may seem a little daunting. However, having a good routine and organization for your tasks will help you thrive in the quarter system we are in. This is the routine I chose and the life I lead here at Dartmouth. Keep reading to find out what my Wednesdays have been like during my first Fall term!

7 am: My day began with a Collis Market smoothie. At Collis Cafe, you can make your smoothie with whatever combination you can think of. I always get milk, strawberries, blueberries, mango, honey, cinnamon, and kale. It's the best sweet and healthy combination to start the day. 

My Collis smoothie this morning!

8 am: After that, I headed to the gym for a workout before class. At Dartmouth, all students have access to the fully-equipped Alumni Gym.

The entrance of the Alumni Gym.

10 am: My first class of the day started at 10:10 am, so after a shower I headed to the Moore Psychology Building for Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1). I just love this class! We walk through most of what the Science of Psychology studies, from understanding social behavior to intelligence and how to measure it. We gain comprehension of so many of the questions society has and the science behind it all. Our professors are accomplished and impressive. They use their award-winning research to explain so many of these concepts, giving the students an exceptional grasp of how these concepts exist in the real world.

11:30 am: I was able to schedule my three classes—a usual course load for one term at Dartmouth—back to back on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, after PSYC 1, I headed to Kemeny Hall for Calculus (Math 3). It was raining during the morning and my professor has a curious tradition to always wear plastic bag boots on the day of the first rain just to make his students laugh. His goal was accomplished! :)

My Math 3 professor dressed up in plastic bags for shoes.

12:30 pm: The rain cleared up pretty quickly, giving in to a huge blue sky and a beautiful day. Hoping to enjoy every second of it, my professor from my next class—Humanities 1—decided to take us to The Green. Sitting in a circle surrounded by beautiful fall scenery is where we had a fruitful discussion on the Death of Ivan Ilyich, a novella by Leo Tolstoy.

My Humanities 001 class sitting on The Green.

2 pm: Done with my classes for the day, I had a late lunch with my friends at FoCo—our main dining hall on campus—and we headed straight back to The Green to enjoy the sunny and warm afternoon. Turns out most students had the same idea, and the grass was filled with students studying, reading, walking their dogs, playing frisbee, spike ball, or just enjoying the views.

Many students sitting and playing on The Green during a sunny Fall afternoon.

5 pm: After that, I headed to the Tower Room to finish some work, taking advantage of the intellectual and wondrous aesthetic it holds to inspire me while I wrote an essay for Humanities 1. I quickly grabbed some delicious sushi from Novack Cafe for dinner, finished my essay, and chatted with some friends at Blobby (Baker-Berry Library Lobby).

10 pm: By this time, I was headed home to talk to family and friends from my hometown and go to bed. The next day I would be up around 7 am to relive this routine, which I dearly love!