Before attending Dartmouth, I had the same conversation over and over, mostly with relative strangers while I was working as a waitress.It usually went something like this:"Where do you go to school?""I'm going to Dartmouth in the fall.""Oh man, you gotta like the cold. Do you like the cold?""I don't think anyone really likes the cold, but I don't mind it if I'm dressed warmly.""You also gotta like the outdoors. You like the outdoors?""Uh, yeah sure I like the outdoors.""No. You really gotta like the outdoors. I'll take a whiskey straight up."
These exchanges haunted me day and night they were not just chatter, but warnings. After the eighth person, the message became clear: if nature was not my number one priority, I was going to be a social outcast at Dartmouth.
Everyone says in college; you become the person you will remain for the rest of your life. I imagined myself a sixty-year-old camping junkie morally opposed to shaving my legs. After the initial shock, I grew to accept my imminent fate. I'm a people person, and if people at Dartmouth didn't shower, well then by golly, when I got to Dartmouth, I wouldn't shower either!
I mentally prepared myself for my DOC trip, and the first night, everything fell into place with my expectations. H-Croo and my trip leaders discussed what we should anticipate over the next few days. Embracing bugs? Yes! Accepting the inevitable body odor of ourselves and our trippees? YES! I was ready.
The first two days went according to plan. Aside from my secret deodorant stash I completely and utterly immersed myself in my new, outdoorsy identity. Yet the first crack in my Dartmouth illusion came when a trippee whipped out some dry shampoo.
I chuckled to myself. Poor girl! She had no idea that limited personal hygiene was completely normal at Dartmouth. She had so much to learn or so I thought until another trippee spoke up.
"You're just using that now? I've been using that since day one."
I gawked. What was this? I thought I was bad-ass for using deodorant, and now I discovered everyone was secretly maintaining their hygiene? I quickly asked to borrow some, in fear that if I didn't, I too would repulse any potential friends at Moosilauke Lodge.
Upon returning to Dartmouth, I learned just how foolish my single-faceted perception had been. Of course there were some students who had found their passion in the environment, but like any school, the students did not all fit one particular mold. Only, I still need to learn that no one says "e-mail." Note to self: it's "blitz."
