Monday, November 30, 2009

Scene Three: Thanksgiving

(The dining room of Phi Tau coeducational fraternity slightly past 6pm on Thanksgiving. A motley group of undergrads feast upon homemade mashed potatoes, vegan stuffing, turducken, and sundry other culinary masterpieces with mismatched cutlery. In the background, Arlo Guthrie advises, "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant...")



While Dartmouth provided students with a four-day Thanksgiving weekend this year, I chose to stay on campus. My reasoning was this:
  • I needed to study for final exams, which would be upon me in about a week,
  • I would not productively study at home,
  • I would be going home for winter break in twelve days anyway,
  • Going home now would imbue me with reluctance to return,
  • Conclusion: Although I would sorely miss my uncle's green bean casserole, my grandmother's ambrosia salad, and the family in general, it was not worth the time, money, or fretting to fly home for only several dozen hours when I would be home for winter break in a dozen days.
Thus, I found myself on a nearly-deserted campus. It was spooky walking ways that would ordinarily be thick with bodies at key times during the day with no movement in sight but the breeze in the leaves or a stray chipmunk. Even my BlitzMail, which is constantly clogged with unread missives, was eerily empty. I was resigned to the reality of fruit leather and porridge for Thanksgiving dinner when I received a Blitz of beauty.
"Stuck on campus? Don't have any dinner plans tomorrow?," it read, "Phi Tau is making a Turducken... and we always have room for friends." It asked for an RSVP and an optional donation of $5. Dinner was at six.
Along with a pair of friends also still here, I trekked across campus to the house at the given hour. Sharing Thanksgiving with the wonderful people at Phi Tau made all of us feel a little bit more at home.

Still wondering "What in the world is a 'turducken?"
According to the brothers at Phi Tau, a turducken is "five birds, deboned and stuffed inside each other."


Image source: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~phitau/

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Scene Two: Halloween Weekend

(The car of Amy Newcomb en route from a Great Issues Scholars retreat at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont back to the Dartmouth Campus at approximately 3:45pm. Trees aflame with Autumn cling to the mountainsides outside, but my mind is on the bus to Salem, Massachusetts that I may soon miss..)





To be a Dartmouth student is almost essentially to be drawn too thin by time commitments, and my Halloween weekend was no exception. On Friday, October 30th, with a pillow under one arm and a backpack over the other, I boarded a bus bound for the Great Issues Scholars retreat along with about thirty other students. We had met as a group but twice before (both times over the context of food), yet off we went to spend half a weekend sharing quarters and discussing the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Through a series of discussions and lectures, we addressed issues ranging from foreign aid to military intervention, from Sudanese history to victimology. Fueled on s'mores, hot tea, and the group's synergy, we talked late into the night.
At midday on Halloween we concluded in an appropriately inconclusive way and scattered to collect our belongings. I hurriedly changed into a latex ballgown, uncertain whether I would have time to don my costume on campus before boarding the Collis Center-sponsored bus to Salem, Massachusetts for which I had purchased a ticket earlier in the week. The bus was to leave campus at 3:30pm; we left the Hulbert Outdoor Center at 3:00pm. Amy Newcomb, Student Programs Officer for the Dickey Center and coordinator of the Great Issues Scholars program, graciously offered to transport another scholar bound for Salem and myself in her personal vehicle in an effort to diminish our chances of missing our bus.
We made it! Still toting our overnight bags, we boarded the bus without trouble. Three hours later we stepped from the bus onto Massachusetts soil and Halloween began.

Salem Street at Midnight, Halloween
© Callista Womick 2009

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Scene One: Dorm Life

(The Home Plate dinner entree line in Thayer Dining Hall at approximately 6:30pm. The air is thick with the hum of hungry undergrads and aroma of healthy dining. I stand behind a fellow student who I think I remember from trips. As the line stalls, we talk.)
Cally!: Wow, this is taking forever.
Student: Yeah, no kidding. I should have waited until later to come. At least we're not at a total stand still, though. Hey, weren't you in my trip section?
Cally!: J65!
Student: Yeah! Only I did climbing. Where are you living?
Cally!: I'm in East Wheelock, Andres. What about you?
Student: Oh, I'm in the River. You don't seem like someone who would live in East Wheelock.





If you have investigated housing information then you know that all first-year students are required to live in standard residential buildings and that both rooms and roommates are assigned. Not until they return as sophomores are students allowed to live in off-campus, affinity, or Greek houses.
But what if you want to live near the fitness center? The co-op grocery store? The Hop? What if you just want to take some of the guess work out of where you'll be living?
The one alternative to standard residential dorms available to first-years is the East Wheelock cluster. East Wheelock is comprised of four dorms (Zimmerman, Morton, McCulloch, and Andres) that are connected by centrally located Brace Commons. The official Website of the cluster (which can be accessed by clicking the image below) describes EW as "an intellectually vibrant and culturally diverse residential community that expands the educational experience beyond the classroom," but what does this mean in terms of day-to-day life?
If you have already searched for student testimonies then you likely know that East Wheelock has a reputation of being "nerdy" and "quiet." Residents are characterized as awkward, studious hermits who scuttle along the periphery of the social scene only to dine and attend class. This is ridiculously inaccurate. We prefer ordering delivery to the bother of trekking to a dining hall.
All joking aside, we are not the reputed recluses of whom you may have read. We play varsity sports and musical instruments. We join debate teams and dance troupes. We go to class, but we also go to parties. Sure, our dorms tend to be quieter than others, but this does not indicate any lack of social interaction. On the contrary, the idea behind East Wheelock is to promote a strong social network between residents, college faculty and staff, and visitors to the campus.
An example of this community-building are the dinners regularly hosted by Professor Susan Brison at her home, known as "the White House," adjacent to the cluster. These dinners give East Wheelock residents the opportunity to meet and speak with visiting scholars and performers as well as Dartmouth affiliates.
Of course, East Wheelock is not the right fit for everyone. If, however, you think that it sounds like the community in which you would like to spend your first year at Dartmouth, fill out the relatively short application and dream of engaging dinner conversations, the snack bar in Brace, and having your own bathroom. In the mean time, feel free to respond with any questions!


Image Source: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~orl/life-in-res/ewc/