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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Editor's Note

Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 1.01.04 AM
Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 1.01.04 AM

Happy 16X, Mirror readers! For many of us, the supposed highlight of our Dartmouth careers has finally arrived: sophomore summer. The weather is beautiful, we’re surrounded by our best friends and drowning in DBA, our workloads seem lighter, we can socialize endlessly and really, we’re only thinking about which fun activity to do next. Nothing could be better.

Well, that’s the expectation.

Yet for some, life at #CampDartmouth isn’t as sunny as it’s often described. A friend told me today that campus feels a bit more lonely than usual. To be fair, the Green and the dining halls are far emptier, and the library is often deserted. Someone else mentioned to me that while he loves his summer Greek house leadership position, he finds himself more stressed than ever. And, unfortunately, some of those “layup” classes aren’t quite layups (the Astro 003 pre-lab was harder than you thought, right?).

As some have already come to realize, it’s impossible to characterize sophomore summer into a single, tightly bundled expectation. But one common feeling, the theme of this week’s Mirror, seems to underlie everyone’s experience so far: novelty. It’s hard to dispute the perception that sophomore summer is different than a “normal” term at Dartmouth. Maybe it’s the fact that we can finally walk outside without bundling up, or that DDS has wacky hours (and an even wackier assumption that we can survive without the Hop) or that there’s only one class on campus (which, as a side note, perpetuates my confusion as to why the KAF line this term seems to be longer than ever). But everyone experiences this “new Dartmouth” feeling in different ways.

So, rather than trying to meet the expectation that the summer will be the time of your life, I hope you make this term YOUR summer. Let go of any expectations and try new things, but do them because YOU want to and not just because they’re on your bucket list. Revel in this term’s novelty – which our writers explore in the issue – and make it your own.

Enjoy the Mirror!