A few dead leaves have made their way onto the doormat of my apartment — just one of many reminders of the passing of time.
I was sitting on a bench on the Green this past Saturday. Struggling to find a topic for this Editor’s Note, I decided that I would go outside and observe other people instead of looking inward.
After a few minutes of watching the various other Green-goers — a child throwing a football back and forth with a person who I assumed was their father; a person roughly in their 60s stopping a few feet in front of me to pick up a vibrant red leaf — I noticed that most of the trees on the Green were still full of leaves. Knowing that in a month or two, they would be nothing but branches, I realized that my future self would soon be wishing my current self had appreciated those trees more while they were in their current state.
In eight months, I’ll leave this campus behind. I can’t stop myself from missing the October foliage, or even the February snow. I’m not even sure I’d want to. But I can make sure I take the time now to take it in while I’m here, and I can make sure I don’t end up wishing I appreciated it more while I could.
This is a rather tired sentiment, I know. But it is Week 5, which means that nearly everyone and everything at this school is rather tired, unfortunately. If it helps, there is something else my brief excursion to the Green reinforced for me: Going outside usually does help.
This week in Mirror, we dive into the Dartmouth experience near and far. One writer learns about the business behind the Katie’s Cookies van, another traces the history of the Sexual Violence Prevention Project and a third writer reflects on the recent “Cornell 7” case, victim blaming and the need for the advancement of women’s rights.
Happy Week 5, Mirror. Have a sit outside this week, at least before it physically hurts your face to do so.
Vivian Wang ’27 is a Mirror editor and writer from the California Bay Area pursuing majors in Psychology and Music. In addition to journalism, she enjoys experimenting with storytelling in its many other forms, from arranging music to playwriting.
