MIR ORR

08.14.2015

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19 ways to tell that you’re a ’19|3

10 freshman fall mistakes to avoid|2

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EDITOR’S NOTEMIR ORR2//

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MIRRORRMADDIE BROWN MAGGIE SHIELDSKATIE McKAY

MIRROR EDITORS

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JUSTINE LEVINEJESSICA AVITABILELUKE McCANN

By Caroline Berens

10 Mistakes to Avoid Making This FallCOLUMN

Perhaps it’s a bit of a morbid exercise, but I often fi nd myself wondering — if today were my last day on earth, how would people describe me when I’m gone? A few words come to mind, but I’m not quite sure one of them would be “sentimental.” You have, however, caught me in one of my more refl ective moods. As I sit typing this, spending my 21st birthday on a Greyhound bus to visit a high school friend, I can’t help but remember where I was three years ago. I turned 18 on one of my fi rst days back from Trips, only the second or third day I had ever spent in Hanover. I’m not going to lie and say that each and every one of you freshmen are about to have the time of your lives this coming week, but rest assured, Orientation will be an unforgettable experience if nothing else. Before I go further, I must be upfront. I’m not overly acquainted with writing an editor’s note, and it’s not generally my photo that graces page two of The Mirror. Rather, I work behind the scenes and let my editors have their names and photos in lights. I’m giving it a try, though, in hopes that The Mirror can give you a little insight, if a bit of a snarky insight, into what your fi rst year will be like. This is the part of the note, I guess, where I offer you young’uns some sage word of advice from the jaded upperclassmen who’s been there, done that. Frankly, I’ve never been one to give — or heed for that matter — advice, but I’ll give it a go. First, write down 15 things you want to do during your freshman year. Do it now, I mean like right now, as in pick up a piece of paper and write 15 things. Now, cross off 10 of them at random. Accept that you won’t, and can’t, do everything you want to do. Enjoy what you can do, lament what you didn’t and accept what you cannot change. Next, don’t listen to most of the advice people give you. They’re giving you advice that works for them, but your college experience is going to be a lot different than theirs. Take the classes you want, join the clubs you think sound great and live the life you want. You’re going to mess up — a lot. Again, another cliché, but that’s the only way you’re ever going to learn what works for you. Love every second that you’re here, and know it’s okay when you don’t. Shoot to be the best at every single thing, learn that you won’t be. Make thousands of friends, lose a lot of them in the process. Laugh, cry, fail, succeed, streak, eat, dance, hike, love, study, pull all-nighters, sleep all day, regret everything and nothing. You’ve got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. These are going to be the longest days and the shortest four years of your life. Welcome to Dartmouth, ’19s, you’ve got a lot to see and the clock is ticking.

Welcome to Dartmouth, ’19’s! I hope that you all had wonderful summers full of anticipation and excitement for the whirlwind that your fresh-man year will be. After battling the elements and surviving the initial awkwardness of your trip, you’re well-equipped to tackle the start of your freshman year. As optimistic and gaffed as you feel, however, it’s probable that during your freshman year, like everyone else, you will make mistakes. Below is a list of common freshman fall blunders to help you better navigate the murky waters of your fi rst term here:

1. Committing -cest(s). Among the quirky Dartmouth vocabulary to which you’ll soon become accustomed are normal words affi xed with “-cest” – tripcest, groupcest, fl oorcest – to imply so-called incest between two associated members. This can encompass anything from a DFMO (dance fl oor make-out) to a committed relationship destined for marriage. It’s likely you’ve been discouraged from participating in these “-cests” by wise upperclassmen — heed the warnings. They rarely do anything but create awkward-ness, discomfort and, most importantly, incon-venience. Before you know it you’ll be unable to meet your trip leaders’ eyes, quitting your a cappella group or taking the stairs to your fourth-fl oor room, instead of the elevator, in fear of uncomfortable encounters. By the nature of incest, too, these kinds of relationships are also just considered blatantly wrong. 2. Eating too many FoCo cookies. Let me authenticate a rumor — no matter how “athletic” and “active” Dartmouth students are reputed to be, the freshman 15 is 100 percent real. It’s usually attributed to unhealthy dining hall options and increased drinking, which certainly play key roles, but the real culprit is that freshman fall is ALL about food. You grab coffee and meals to get to know people, eat pastries and gelato at open houses and club meetings and munch on Doritos and pretzels that your undergraduate advisor brought dur-ing fl oor meetings. You devour the homemade brownies in your care package from home, order late-night EBAs with your fl oormates and down endless cups of beer as you practice pong. To boot, with the required meal plan, you’re probably eating most meals at FoCo, home to the heavenly but nefarious cookies. Decadent, rich and (seemingly) unlimited, these concoc-tions of sugar, butter and chocolate are likely responsible for 10 of the freshman 15. However, despite the harsh reality of weight gain, there are ways to combat it — utilizing Dartmouth’s gym facilities, eating from the various salad bars a few times per week, switching to water after a few games of pong. Don’t spend too much time worrying about food though — have fun.3. Too much time on social media. There is no time when people attempt to glo-rify themselves more via social media than their freshman fall of college. Come late August, my Facebook and Instagram feeds were clogged with endless posts from my high school and college classmates documenting their newly blissful, charmed, glamorous collegiate lives. Whether you are enamored with Dartmouth or rebuff all these sentiments, it’s natural to question whether your own college experience is measuring up in comparison. What I was too naïve to realize was that I was only viewing a brief glimpse into a person’s life, and a heavily edited one at that. Nobody makes statuses about feeling lonely and homesick, or posts a selfi e crying on the phone with their mom, but those experiences are just as natural a part of freshman year as the happier times. So take every fi ltered photo and embellished caption with a grain of salt. 4. Taking diffi cult or high-level classes. This is a common mistake that many over-eager — and perhaps overconfi dent — fresh-men make. Maybe you binge-watched Grey’s Anatomy over the summer and, inspired by Patrick Dempsey’s sublime hair, now want to

pursue the pre-health track to become a neu-rosurgeon. Or maybe you got perfect scores on the Physics and Calculus BC AP tests, and are dead-set on the engineering track. Or maybe the idea of introductory classes bores you to tears, and you want to delve into more specialized subtopics right away. Whatever the case may be, your freshman fall is the time to play it safe academically and embrace your liberal arts education — your scope of classes is vastly more expansive than in high school, and perhaps you’ll fi nd an undiscovered passion for a subject you’d never even considered. Be mindful that college classes are diffi cult, and with our 10-week terms, the learning pace is fast and intense. It’s recommended to take one class for your planned major, another to fulfi ll a distributive requirement and the last on a totally unfamiliar topic that piqued your interest (one of the latter two should be an introductory course.) Your GPA will appreciate the kindness. 5. Eating every meal at FoCo. This is a common freshman faux pas, largely caused by the 20 meal plan. You’re still enamored with the novelty of FoCo, considering it a glit-tering wonderland full of infi nite deliciousness and thinking economically, believe it has the best cost benefi t of any DDS establishment. Plus, with its enormous halls and long tables, it’s the perfect place for large group meals, a trademark of freshman fall. But exploring the other dining options early on will open to your eyes to a happier, better and more gratifying world. After trying Collis Cafe’s omelets and pasta, the Courtyard Cafe (or “the Hop”) burgers and burritos and King Arthur Flour’s pastries and sandwiches, you’ll never look at FoCo the same way. 6. Trying to fi nd best friends right away. Throughout your entire freshman fall, you’ll be besieged with endless new faces, names and introductions, through roommates, fl oormates, trippees, teammates and more. The superfi cial nature of these interactions can be frustrating, and there might be times when you yearn for someone who knows you, not just your home-town or Trip section. Seeking reassurance and fearing loneliness like any college freshman, you’ll likely latch on to those who seem to share your interests and activities. But as the term continues and you become more comfortable with people, you might realize that some of your friendships lack depth or potential. And that’s okay — friendship is incredibly fl uid freshman fall, and it’s normal if your social circle doesn’t fall into place right away. Finding loyal and true friends takes time and patience, after all, but it will happen eventually. And when you do fi nd those select few, it will have been worth the wait.7. Not asking for help. A blatantly false misconception at Dartmouth is that everyone “has it together.” This can discourage students, especially freshmen, from seeking help, convinced they’ll seem weak or inadequate. But the truth is that Dartmouth, despite its picture-perfect brochures, is not a utopian paradise, and it’s perfectly normal (and common) to struggle here. If you’re fl ounder-ing in a class, talk to your professor or teach-ing assistant. No matter how condescending, intimidating or even unreasonable they might seem, they are human beings too, and ones who were once undergraduates themselves. Blitz them, go to offi ce hours, ask for extra practice work, arrange a tutor. If you’re struggling with

transitioning to college, set up a meeting with your dean or UGA. If you’re battling mental health issues, see a counselor at Dick’s House. Open up to your parents, your friends, your teammates, your trip leaders, your coaches. Revealing your vulnerabilities will not only help to facilitate a solution and reassure you, but it will also strengthen your relationships and bonds. You are not the fi rst or last student to struggle at Dartmouth, and there are endless valuable resources to utilize. All you have to do is ask. 8. Having a (very) premature life crisis. Maybe you’ve dreamt of being a neurosci-entist ever since you uttered your fi rst word (“neuron”) but you’re unbelievably miserable in “Intro to Neuroscience,” and now you’re ques-tioning whether or not your entire life has been a lie. Maybe, like me, numerous departments seem genuinely interesting to you and you don’t know how you’ll ever decide on a major. Maybe you saw your roommate Googling Stanford Law School admissions statistics and felt immediate pressure to make a detailed fi ve-year plan. It’s okay; you don’t have to decide what you’re going to do with the rest of your life right now — that’s the exact purpose of college. Pursue the classes and activities you enjoy doing, and everything will fall into place.9. Being hard on yourself. Everyone at Dartmouth is an overachiever in at least one capacity, and that will prove to be both a blessing and a curse. Being immersed in such concentrated brilliance, ambition and talent is an incredible privilege, one that will likely inspire and motivate you. However, the inevitable freshman fall realization that you aren’t at the top anymore can be frustrating and disheartening, often spurning insecurity, self-doubt and envy. Accept that you might not have a 4.0 GPA anymore, or make the most eloquent points in class, or be the most auspi-cious athlete on your team. Keep in mind that you’re surrounded by some of the smartest students in the country — in the world — and it’s okay to fall short in comparison sometimes. Also remember that you were accepted to Dartmouth for a reason — something in your application suggested you had promise and potential. Admissions doesn’t make mistakes.10. Changing who you are. The beauty of starting college is that nobody has any preconceived notions, expectations or judgments about you. Nobody knows that you spent the fi rst half of high school holed up in your bedroom writing Harry Potter fanfi ction, or that you once had to wear teeth-correcting headgear. The potential to reinvent yourself at Dartmouth can be exhilarating, and there are countless chances to do so. Certainly, some measure of change your freshman year is inevitable, whether that’s developing a higher tolerance for subzero temperatures, adjusting your vocabulary to new lingo or simply learning to do laundry. By the same token, never delib-erately change yourself to fi t some notion of a Dartmouth student or Dartmouth experience, because neither such thing exists in a single form. If you think traditions like the Ledyard Challenge and Dartmouth Seven are bizarre, you don’t have to partake in them. If you think Keystone Light tastes like the love-child of sewer water and urine, don’t force yourself to drink it. College is the time to fi nd out who you are, and it’s impossible to do that if you make decisions to appease others instead of to gratify yourself.

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MIR ORR //3

19 Ways to Tell You’re a ’19By Maddie Brown and Maggie ShieldsCOLUMN

In the first weeks of fall term, some students stick out like a sore thumb. They also stick together. Of course, many incoming students are well aware of their status as the freshest faces on campus and the de facto “worst class ever,” but regardless of how hard they try to blend in, freshmen just have a certain look in their eye that shouts “Hi I’m a ’19. Please be my friend.” Just in case they don’t know why they are still standing out, we have compiled a list of 19 ways to spot a freshman. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being naive to some of Dartmouth’s intricacies — it took us years to learn and perfect the jaded look along with the perfect conversation balance of discussing your extracurriculars, thesis research and the occasional night out that show this isn’t your first rodeo. For as much as any Dartmouth student loves to roll their eyes and mutter “Classic freshman” to their friends as they watch these doe-eyed new kids try to understand the Hop menu, the harsh reality is that we were all freshmen at one point or another. Getting used to the College is a time-honored tradition, but that doesn’t mean we won’t call you out when you’re doing something that only a freshman would do. Just in case they don’t know why they are still standing out, we have compiled a list of 19 ways to spot a freshman. We just hope they remember to wash their “Dartmouth ’19” shirt after the first week.

1. You use the words “Class of 1953 Com-mons,” “Robinson Hall” and “email.” You think facetime is a feature on your smartphone, and you have no idea what a “flitz” is.

2. You still have to call your mom to figure out how to do laundry... if you can even find the laundry room and figure out which machine is the washer and which is the dryer.

3. The first question you ask when you meet someone is “What is your class year?” Then you tell them you are a ’19. Or worse, you start a conversation with an upperclassmen by asking, “Are you a ’19, too?”

4. You only walk around in a group of five or more people, a.k.a. “shmobbing.”

5. Your cover photo is Baker Tower. Your profile picture is of you standing in front of Dartmouth Hall. Your most recently tagged photos are from Trips.

6. Not only are you both pre-med and engi-

neering, but you’re also considering a double minor in economics and government. You talk about how excited you are to be involved in Model U.N., a cappella, First-Year Fellows and five dozen other activities whose names you can’t remember that you signed up for during the activity fair.

7. You don’t know the difference between Baker and Berry — or FFB and Baker 1 for that matter.

8. You eat three meals a day at FoCo and love it. You get at least two cookies and a bowl for your dipping milk at each meal.

9. You study in the 1902 room — or the Tower Room if you feel like mixing it up.

11. Your Dartmouth ID is predominantly placed on your lanyard and the photo is still unscathed. Honestly, the lanyard alone is enough.

12. You go to all of your floor meetings and BFABs.

13. You try to take a picture with Keggy the Keg or the Dart Moose. Do it anyways, and send it to your parents. They will love it.

14. You have Trips songs stuck in your head and think that people are Salty Dog Ragging at the fraternities you cannot enter.

15. Your wardrobe is primarily Dartmouth apparel and your bean boots are still shiny. Your “winter” coat is a black North Face fleece, which you will mistakenly lose in a matter of days, if not hours.

17. You don’t know what the Sun God is (or Carol Folt or Jim Yong Kim or Alpha Delta).

18. You haven’t completed any of the Dart-mouth Seven or the Ledyard Challenge (hopefully), but you probably committed either “floorcest” or “tripcest.”

19. You get lost everywhere you go and might feel awkward and anonymous as you cross the Green full of unfamiliar faces, but even though the upperclassmen call you the worst class ever, they are secretly jealous that have you still have four awesome years ahead of you to make Dartmouth your home.

You only walk around in a group of five or more people, a.k.a. “shmobbing.”

You have Trips songs stuck in your head and think that people are Salty Dog Ragging at the fraternities you cannot enter.

MIR ORR4//

KATIE JARRETT/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

CARSON HELE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFFALEX MOUSHEY/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

COURTESY OF MAX GIBSON KATIE JARRETT/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

COURTESY OF SEAMORE ZHUCOURTESY OF SEAMORE ZHU