This article is featured in the 2024 Homecoming Special Issue.
Most of my mornings are framed by brick and concrete. I leave the Lodge and meander through a wall of construction, past the boxy, makeshift woodworking studio behind the Hood Museum of Art, through the wind tunnel and onto the Green. My perspective on this five-minute walk has evolved since the beginning of the term — I used to bemoan it, but now I use the extra time to listen to music and plan out my week. What started as something I groaned at the thought of is now a positive part of my routine.
In many ways, there’s not much novelty to sophomore year. I’ve hiked Gile Mountain some six-odd times during my time at Dartmouth, tried every Dartmouth Dining location and visited every study spot — even the Evans Map Room, before I got kicked out for eating and drinking next to the maps. At this point, I could give a comprehensive review of just about every breakfast spot in Hanover.
Still, sophomore year carries a sense of newness. The label “’27” — a nod to our class year — doesn’t have the same belittling quality it once possessed. Greek affiliation is no longer a distant possibility with fall recruitment now behind us. Some of my friends are in relationships now; others have already broken up. Some people who were once fresh faces I now avoid eye contact with at a party or while waiting in line at Collis Cafe. There’s a muffled, preemptive grieving of friends who will be “off” in the winter. I’m not on the Ivy Unlimited meal plan anymore. Conversation topics have shifted, from debriefing First-Year Trips and first-time frat experiences to discussing sophomore summer housing and D-Plans.
Being a sophomore also means having more responsibilities, especially in clubs. Last Wednesday, I was on a walk with a friend in between classes. I anxiously relayed how my club field hockey practice would conflict with a meeting I had scheduled. She looked at me as she fiddled with her coffee cup. “Don’t you make the practice schedule?” She was right. I exhaled a sigh of relief, opened our captains’ group chat and sent a text asking about a possible time switch. As a freshman, I never imagined that I would have the authority to make decisions, even simple ones like changing the time for practice. Now, as a sophomore, I am embracing leadership for the first time.
Not being a freshman anymore is like experiencing a new Dartmouth. I don’t recognize most faces on the first floor of Berry Library. There’s only one Collis food option that I’m still scared to order: breakfast bagels. My role in my extracurriculars has quietly shifted — I’m not just a participant anymore, but rather a leader. I have more responsibility and feel more of a need to maintain group dynamics, acting as a mentor to new members. There’s no longer infinite time to figure out Dartmouth. There’s figuring out Dartmouth, but there’s also figuring out majors, plans for the future and a potential internship. My stress isn’t just focused on my classwork or meeting new people anymore.
In the first week of this term, my roommate and I decorated our room together. We listened to music as we hung up posters and put stickers on our mini fridge. It was a muggy day in September, and I could hear both of our fans as they whirred on full blast. While I was changing my fairy lights’ settings to orange and purple, she rummaged through an old storage box and pulled out a red sweatshirt. “Do you want this?” she asked. I turned to her. “Seriously?” She shrugged. “You can take whatever you want.”
Last year, I didn’t feel comfortable having friends in my room, so my nightly debriefs had to happen in a common room, or someone else’s space. Now, I have a best friend to sit and rant with about my day. As a sophomore, I feel closer to the people around me — so close that we share each other's clothes.
Sophomore year means that upperclassmen are no longer as scary, and I don’t feel as nervous to approach a friend crush in “Blobby,” the Baker Library lobby. I know the exact amount of time a “woccom” — a walk around Occom Pond — will take, and I’m not afraid to be alone sometimes. I’ve amassed an arsenal of Foco hacks. I led my first club field hockey practice. Hanover doesn’t feel like an impenetrable bubble anymore. This year, I tried Marsh Brothers Deli for the first time, swam under the shadow of a covered bridge and spent an entire day wandering Newbury Street in Boston.
I’m not sure what I was expecting from sophomore year, other than getting to reunite with my classmates and hopefully experience new corners of Dartmouth. My friends and I often joke that sophomore year is “season 2” of our college experience. It’s when the familiar characters are still there, but new plot twists keep the storyline interesting. My experience at Dartmouth has suddenly turned from a collection of friends in my class to a whole world of new people from all class years. It’s comforting and exhilarating at the same time.
This morning, I pivoted from my normal walking route to study at Still North Books and Bar. It was 40 degrees and drizzly, the type of morning where such an excursion was the only way I’d want to get out of bed. Wind swirled the confetti of wet leaves at my feet. There was a line outside of Lou’s Restaurant and Bakery. I could see the familiar white spire of the Baker bell tower. Campus hasn’t changed. What’s changed is how I navigate it.
