Although by next fall the graduating seniors will be strewn across the world, many of them will spend the summer right here in the Upper Valley.
"My Dartmouth friends are staying mostly in Hanover," Andreas Stavropoulos '02 said. "I'll be living in a teepee and hanging out with friends while working a job here in Hanover."
"Most of [my friends] are staying on to work for a visiting director in the Theater Department," Johnny Lee '02 said.
While these Hanover plans may be only temporary, some seniors are planning on settling down in the area.
"I really like the Upper Valley and have built relationships here," Christine Flagg '02 explained. Flagg, who is getting married after graduation, plans on "coming back to the Upper Valley to hopefully find a nice job."
"Funny you should ask, I don't know [about summer plans] yet right now," said Eli Diament '02, who will be in Hanover for the fall. "I don't know what to do, don't like the idea of graduating."
For many, this summer will serve as a break before they move on to further education. Lora Bolton '02, a linguistics major, plans to spend the summer at home before moving to Montreal to begin graduate school.
Alex Roberts '02 will spend her summer in Marion, Mass., teaching English, creative writing and tennis at Tabor Academy.
"I'm doing the summer thing mostly for the teaching experience and because I like working with kids," Roberts said.
Beginning in September, Roberts will attend Stanford University to pursue a graduate degree in English literature -- "because they have the best program and because New England is just too cold."
"I will miss my friends, family," Roberts said. "But I'm excited about living somewhere totally different and making new friends and connections."
Sarah Weiner '02, the recipient of a Reynolds Scholarship, is planning to divide up her time between her home and Italy this summer before going to study the Slow Food model of sustainable agriculture and pure foods in Italy.
"I'm going home to St. Louis for June and July. I plan to work a lot, hopefully as a nanny and then a waitress or chef at night," Weiner said. "Then I'm going to spend August in this small coastal town in Sicily with one of my Dartmouth friends and my boyfriend. We rented an apartment from another Dartmouth friend's uncle for next to nothing, and I plan to cook a lot to keep our expenses to a minimum," she said.
Weiner said there would be "about six graduating seniors who will be in Italy, which is exciting."
The majority of Dartmouth students will start what Roberts called "their real full-time jobs" in places like Boston and New York.
"I am going back home to New York City, and then I will begin work as a paralegal at a corporate law firm," Johnny Lee '02 said.
For many seniors, finances are a major concern over the summer months.
Flagg listed her significant other, money and loans as "the motivations for a job."
"I have to live up to certain expectations, and I also have to be able to support myself," Lee said. "My parents are no longer going to support me, so I need to be able to survive on my own. Living in New York City is no easy task, so I decided to do some work that will fatten up my savings enough to have enough later on to do what I really want."
