This article was featured in the 2017 Freshman Issue.
Dear Class of 2021,
For a while now, you’ve known you were coming to Dartmouth. Although you may have been excitedly telling everyone you know and proudly wearing Big Green gear, the reality of what exactly College will be like has yet to be actualized. You may have a lot of questions: What is “normal” in College? What should I bring when I pack? Will the food be any good?
We’re sure you’ve heard the statistics on your class — highest yield in 25 years, largest percentage of international students on record in addition to the seemingly meaningful SAT scores and impressive number of valedictorians.
It can be hard to imagine the personalities behind these numbers and much harder to envision sharing a place with them. College comes at you fast. The first weeks are full of learning new names and faces, figuring out where your classes are and deciding which of the dozens opportunities, programs and clubs you want to devote your time to.
Your freshman year is quickly approaching and perhaps unlike high school assignments, getting used to this place, that everyone seems to call home, is not something you can study for. With that said, we hope this issue of The Dartmouth can provide you with the current events of our community, advice and tips as well as the voices of current students so that the vague idea of Dartmouth can start to materialize. Every experience here is unique, but we hope that you learn from our stories.
Give yourself the chance to take the challenge head on. Operate outside of your comfort zone, reaching for opportunities that you may of never thought you’d be afforded. Go on a hike, join a random club and be inquisitive about something new. Remember you’re at Dartmouth for a reason; you and every other incoming freshman were chosen specifically to be a part of the Big Green. And we trust that in a bit, you’ll find a way to navigate, understand and impact this place.
Alexa Green is a junior from Boca Raton, FL. She is majoring in English, with minors in Arabic and Public Policy. After joining the newspaper her freshman winter, she served as a beat reporter covering Hanover & the Upper Valley. Following this position, Alexa became the associate managing news editor. Outside of the newsroom, she is a tour guide on campus, works for the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, and conducts research in the English department. During her off term, Alexa worked for I.B.Tauris, an independent publishing house in London, U.K., editing and publicizing international relations and politics books. She is passionate about the ways in which policy, current events, history and journalism have interconnected roles in defining global issues.
Amanda Zhou is a junior at Dartmouth College originally from Brookline, Massachusetts. She’s previously been the associate managing editor, health and wellness beat writer at the Dartmouth and interned at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this Fall. She is pursuing a major in quantitative social science and a minor in public policy. At college, she edits the campus newspaper, serves on the campus EMS squad and lives in the sustainable living center. After graduation, she is interested in a career in journalism or data analysis. In her spare time, she can be found running, cooking or trying to rock climb.
