I am writing this from my favorite spot in Sanborn, people-watching and trying to distract myself from the mountain of work that is building on my to-do list. Now feels like an acceptable point in the term to start putting off work and ignoring emails. Just in time for midterms, am I right? This week marks the midpoint in the term, and yet there is still so much to look forward to. Homecoming, Halloween, the Harvard football game, my birthday… Something about turning 22 this week is giving me the Wednesday scaries, just slightly.
Birthdays at Dartmouth can be both exciting and uncomfortable reminders of how much can change in a year. This time last year, I was having the time of my life working in late night television in New York City. The year before, I was a sophomore who had just joined a sorority and was obsessed with the plethora of new friends I had. My freshman year, I awkwardly ate Lou’s cake in the dorm room of a girl I had met just a week before. This year as I blow out the candles, I will wish to feel more at ease with myself, my friendships and the prospect of having no idea where I will be celebrating my 23rd birthday from next year. But I’m sure I will feel happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time. I think no matter what age you turn, Taylor Swift will always have the perfect words to describe it.
This week at Mirror, our writers tackle a wide range of topics that vary from how to make the most out of your dining plan to the complications and conflicts of interest that can arise for UGAs. Two writers report on different students’ note taking strategies, while another spotlights a unique art history class and another explores how students of different religious backgrounds experience Dartmouth. Finally, one writer talks to ’27s about their perspective on flair, and an arts editor Jessica Sun Li ’24 writes her first advice column on women’s rush.
Even if this week brings midterms and gloominess for you, at Mirror, we want to remind you that October days are maple flavored and for healing. It’s hard not to feel the tired autumnal ache in your bones as you walk to class everyday, so take it easy. The best of this term is yet to come, or at least that's what I am telling myself on my 22nd birthday.
