Roadtrip! Dartmouth Style

I'm that very adventurous person who loves to travel so being on a 3 hour car ride to New Hampshire in the early morning was something I was looking forward for. With this cohort, I knew that the car ride was going to be fun, or at least interesting...

They all met at the lobby at 7:30 AM, but Thao and I arrived at 7:35 (better late than never). We then made our way to a local cafe near our hotel where we had breakfast. I ordered a simple egg and cheese bagel along with some chocolate coconut water that I later saved for the road trip. While we ate, Jenny went ahead and got our rental van, which was a pretty basic Ford 10-passenger van. It wasn't the best or the most comfortable, but it sure was enough to fit all 10 of us. Although the car ride was a bit bumpy and rough at times, most of us took naps after the first hour of driving. 

Elizabeth and I

We arrived in Hanover, New Hampshire at around 12:30 PM. Dartmouth may be in a rural area, but it seems such a very happy and welcoming place, compared to New York. These are the types of communities that I look for when applying to college since I'm not a big fan of busy cities. We had lunch at Pine Hotel/Restaurant with a couple of Dartmouth students. I sat next to Elizabeth, who is a double majoring in English and Engineering, which I thought was super cool. Across from me was Gina, who graduated Dartmouth just this year. Gina talked about and emphasized the importance of applying to a college that you will feel more comfortable in, especially since you'll be spending four years of your life there. Jessie mentioned how she loved New York but sort of disliked Providence since it felt boring to her. I was the total opposite, New York is a great city but I really can't imagine myself living that college life surrounded by taxis and loads of people congesting the streets. In Providence, I felt more free and open, plus I feel that the people are more approachable and friendlier, especially at

Brown. It was really nice talking to Gina and Elizabeth, since they listened to us very attentively and were just so kind. For example, Jessie and I talked about football and sports while Gina listened. Even if our conversations seemed off topic, they were still enthusiastic and you could tell that they loved talking to us. Aside from the interesting conversations, the food was also amazing. I ordered a delicious, mouth-watering Hanover Burger, since the waiter recommended it, and for desert, I ordered a lemon blueberry shortcake. 

After lunch, we made our way to McNutt Hall, which was the admissions office of Dartmouth. We were

Gina and I

fortunate enough to have a personal tour of Dartmouth, thanks to Liane, a current sophomore at Dartmouth. She showed us around the whole campus and talked about the history of the college itself. The interesting part was when she talked about the traditions of Dartmouth. For example, there is a bonfire for incoming freshmen on the main green of the campus and their families are invited as well. Another tradition was running laps around the green. For the year that the students graduate, they run around that many times around the main green of the campus, sounds tiring right? After the walking part of the tour, we headed back to the admissions office where we met Kim, an admissions officer at Dartmouth. She talked about the financial aids that Dartmouth offered, which gave me more confidence in applying to Ivy League Schools.

Jenny gave us about 30 minutes to roam around the campus, then we regrouped to buy some gelato, which from what I heard was the best in all of town. I ordered hazelnut and stracciatella flavors which I thought were the perfect combination to have in a gelato. We arrived back at Providence at 8:30 PM where we ate at Terayaki House, a Korean restaurant near our hotel. We celebrated YeonSoo's 17th birthday here and even gave her a huge surprise with a birthday cake at the end. This celebration was my favorite part of the day since it was a casual dinner that consisted of just this cohort.