Youve seen them around. Theyre slinking behind every corner, taking up prime benches on the green, and roving around town in hordes. We all express irritation at their presence, but we know they must have inner lives. When it comes down to it, who doesnt want to know what the deal is with all the campers? In an effort to answer this question, I spent a couple hours lurking around their home base at their greatest moment of weakness: feeding time.
I sensed some resentment as soon as I crossed the unmarked line between Food Court and the ambiguous Camp Dartmouth, ne Homeplate. It seems that The Blend lies in no mans land, and the computers that surround that area are the last territorial strongholds. In contrast to the computers closest to the Thayer entrance, the three computers within the realm of Homeplate have recently been BlitzMail-free. Instead, Internet Explorer"yes, these barbarians dont even use Mozilla"is open, with the sparce Facebook homepage gleaming on each screen.
Five pigtailed girls with scabby knees and peeling pink fingernail polish swarmed in front of these computers. Id die without Facebook, one said, flipping a pigtail off her shoulder. A smaller one spoke up. I mean, I like Facebook, but Im obsessed with MySpace! The rest of the group nodded and sighed in agreement.
I quickly decided to give up the pursuit of checking my e-mail, and went to place my order for a smoothie. Sure enough, the gaggle shifted over to the counter, leaving me in the dust. Five painstakingly-indecisive milkshake orders later, paid for in dollar bills and quarters, the stampede of tweens dissipated. I didnt even get the chance to ask them if theyd mind being interviewed. I was learning quickly that Id have to sharpen my reflexes if I was going to pin one of these critters down.
Cruising past the booths at Homeplate, I saw four serious-looking youths eating burgers. Here for the Dartmouth Soccer Academy, Peter Paras, Nick Zehner, Alex Needles, and Kendhall Davis are seriously into seriously talking about their college prospects.
"I asked my coach if there was a camp that I should go to, and he said that Dartmouth was really good, Davis said. Davis feels coming here was a good decision, since so many coaches get to see him play at the camp. The head coach from Wheaton asked if I had any interest in going there, Davis added.
But when asked about the atmosphere of Dartmouth during the summer, the boys seem to have soccer tunnel vision. We had a college soccer recruiting seminar where we could ask coaches and players at Dartmouth any questions about the recruiting process. As for the students that theyve had interactions with, the boys say they seem helpful.
This seemed to be the consensus until Zehner spoke up. Zehners brother is a Dartmouth sophomore, so Zehner has been able to see Dartmouth life first hand since coming here. I stayed at Tri-Kap on Sunday night, Zehner explained. I met a few of the brothers. The stuff that they do sounds amazing. Like kidnapping each other.
The other boys laughed at this. Right, Needles said. Put that down as my quote.
I left the boys to finish their lunch and came across a table of high-school aged girls, picking at the remainder of their food and engaged in friendly conversation. I decided to join in.
Jordan Hammond, from Oklahoma, is the natural leader of the group. She speaks up and coaxes her friends to do the same. Were here for the Nike Volleyball camp she explained. Were all looking at colleges, and are here to check out the East Coast.
Wed all like to go to Dartmouth, if possible, her friend, Taylor Jones added. The other girls nodded in agreement.
The volleyball players hope that spending time at camp now will help them with the admissions process later. Were working with the coaches, so it allows them to see us play for a more extended time than they see us in other circumstances explains Amber Bryant, who sat at the opposite end of the table, nibbling on a salad green.
We also get to see the campus with students here, so we can get a sense of what its like, added Annie Smartt.
The girls were eager to share their views on Dartmouth students, whom they saw predominantly as chill. Smartt noted that the student body seems balanced, nice, and down-to-earth. Jones hesitated before admitting that she thought it looked like students partied quite a bit. It seems pretty mellow. I think they party. I just kind of get that feeling she explained. The other girls laughed and nodded.
Hammond contextualized, It seems a lot more easy-going than Yale or Harvard. Maybe similar to Brown.
Finally, I asked them about Facebook. Could they live without it? The girls laughed. I think so, Bryant said. Then I asked about MySpace, recalling the pigtailed campers from before. They merely raised their eyebrows.
When I left their table a few minutes later, we parted with mutual admiration. I avoided the awkward glances from the prepubescent boys at the table next to them. The girls waved and rolled their eyes. Maybe Dartmouth students arent the only chill ones on campus this summer.
