Hi, and welcome to my corner of the woods! I'm Lauren, a '27 from Munger, Michigan. I'm excited to be back to taking classes after two "off terms" in a row! Outside of academics, I'm involved in Ledyard Canoe Club, the Dartmouth Organization of Rural Students, and Dartmouth Sports Analytics Club. I'm excited to share stories from my favorite place with all of you!
I took this class as part of Dartmouth's first year writing requirement. We read a pro cyclist's life narrative, discussed research papers on controversial topics in sports, and wrote our own papers on a contentious sports technology of our choice. I really enjoyed this course's emphasis on discussion, and the small class size!
This was my first class in the classics department, which was super exciting as a classical studies major! We learned about the ancient Olympics and the connections between athletics and other aspects of ancient Greek society. I loved the final project in this class, which involved creating an argument about how the ancient pentathlon was scored!
To conclude my language requirement, I took Latin 3! This class was super exciting because we began to read ancient texts and poetry. We also took a class trip to the Rauner Special Collections library so we could physically handle and read some manuscripts. And as an added bonus, Latin counts as a prerequisite for my classical studies major!
As a part of my language study abroad in Italy, I also took a class on Italian history and culture! We went on field trips to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, participated in walking tours of Rome, and watched a lot of great cinema in this class! I loved it so much that I decided to minor in Italian.
This class, in addition to being a pre-requisite for my major, was super interesting! I loved learning about archaeology through hands-on projects and lectures that felt like TED Talks.
My favorite course on my Italian LSA+ in Rome is focused on Italian literature, which we are studying in a reverse-chronological order! It has been incredibly fun to see different topics and styles evolve over time and to learn from the works of the best writers.
I’m absolutely loving this hands-on introduction to paleography, and the fact that my class meets at Rauner every day! I can’t wait to hear from our guest lecturers, too, and I’ll be sure to share those experiences on the blog. All in all, Latin 10 was a great way to get back into the language after a term away in Rome.
I signed up for this Latin class after the FDOC (first day of class), and I'm so glad I added it to my sophomore summer schedule! Our class is combined with GRK 30.08 History and Structure of the Greek Language, and it has been incredibly interesting to compare the ancient languages and learn a bit of Greek.
FallIvrea, Italy
This term, I'm interning with the Olivetti Leadership Institute in Ivrea, a small town in northern Italy.
WinterHanover, NH
For my second off-term, I'm back on campus! I'm keeping myself busy by working, spending time with friends, and working on my to-be-read list.
I signed up for this course to complete my final distributive requirement for graduation, and it has turned out to be one of my most rewarding classes! It’s been fascinating to explore a region of the world I hadn’t formally studied before. As a bonus, the lectures are incredibly engaging and I always leave class feeling like my perspective has been broadened.
Now, as I sit in the airport during a 5-hour layover on the way back from my spring break trip, I want to reflect on what I learned outside of the classroom this term. I think the lessons sort neatly into three broad categories: relaxing isn't wasting time, you learn a lot by listening, and the people around you are the whole point.
Relaxing isn't wasting time
With a busy college schedule, it can be easy to forget that humans were not built to live in 10-week sprints with calendars booked from sunrise to sunset. Although I love my color-coded Google Calendar, adding events called "free time" and "snack break" between back-to-back events can feel suffocating at times.
I took advantage of my free time by participating in almost every Winter Carnival activity this term, including making stuffed animals at the Collis Center for Student Involvement!
This term taught me that sometimes it's okay to sit in a place you like with people you love and let that be enough. Some of my favorite memories from the term happened on days where I woke up with no plans other than "see friends" and "have fun."
As I prepare to take classes again, I want to keep a bit of that spirit alive. I'll be doing so by saying "yes" to more opportunities, carving out time for myself even on my busiest days, and working to make responsibilities like homework and meetings more enjoyable by working on them outside or in the company of friends.
You learn a lot by listening
If you know me, you know that I love to talk. It's something that's always been true about me, and that's led me to a lot of places—on two study abroad terms to practice speaking in a different language, across the Upper Valley to have conversations with my neighbors, and into leadership roles where being vocal is incredibly important.
But something I've been more conscious about lately (and putting a lot of effort into) is taking time to pause before speaking. I've been guilty before of not listening to whoever I'm talking to because I'm so excited to jump in with my own thoughts and ideas. That's a habit I'd like to kick.
Some of my closest friends, including my IM hockey teammates, taught me valuable lessons this term.
This term gave me the space to practice that. Without the pressure of class discussions where I felt like I needed to prove something, I could just be present with people. I started noticing how much richer a conversation gets when you ask a follow-up question instead of pivoting to your own story. The most meaningful conversations I had this winter happened because I chose to stay quiet a beat longer than I normally would. It turns out people will tell you incredible things if you just give them the room to do so.
The people around you are the whole point
If there's one thing this term drove home more than anything else, it's that my favorite part about Dartmouth is the community. The people here really make the place.
I know that sounds obvious. Everyone says it. But it's one thing to know it and another thing to feel it so clearly that it reshapes how you spend your time. Without a packed schedule dictating where I needed to be every hour, I got to choose where I wanted to be. And almost every time, I chose to be with people.
AtLedyard Council during Week 10, our intro question of the day was to shout out three people in the room we were grateful for. As I looked around, I felt an overwhelming sense of luck—luck to be in that room, in that moment, with those specific people who had made my term so full.
Council is different every week—earlier in the term, we had a talent show featuring a band of Ledyardites.
My friend Dylan gave me a shoutout, mentioning that because I "had a lot of free time this term," we were able to have a lot of fun. On Monday evenings, we had a recurring dinner at Collis Microbrews as part of the Ledyard Council routine that I quite enjoyed.
But I think he missed something important. Free time doesn't automatically become quality time—you have to put in a conscious effort. This term, my small but intentional decisions to spend time with my friends added up. They reminded me that community isn't something that just happens to you. It's something you build, one meal or meeting at a time.
As I head into spring term with a full schedule again, I'm carrying these lessons with me: rest when you need to, listen more than you speak, and never take your people for granted.
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Sarah Getraer '26, a studio art major, showed me around her dorm room, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
