Dear Diary: An '18's First Winter in Hanover, Vol. I

By Caroline Berens, The Dartmouth Staff | 1/14/15 6:27am

The commentary below is entirely fictional and does not represent the true diary entries of an anonymous member of the Class of 2018.

1/5/15:

Dear Diary,

Remember in November when I told you how beautiful my first snowfall was? How warm and fuzzy I felt looking out at Dartmouth’s perfect, blanketed campus? How I described seeing snow for the first time as magical and spiritual? My hand cramped up because I couldn’t stop gushing. I think I even wrote a poem.

Well, everything I told you was a lie. Those warm and fuzzy feelings are gone, and they have been replaced by perpetual, inescapable cold. My hand is still cramped – but now, it’s because it’s numb from frostbite.

Only yesterday, I was hugging mom outside the LAX airport before returning to campus for 15W. As we broke apart, she wisely told me, “Soak up these last rays of sun, honey. You won’t be feeling this warmth until June.” Yeah, yeah, I thought to myself. If I had a nickel for every time someone obnoxiously told me how cold Hanover was, I wouldn’t even need to be in college. But I digress. The point was, I knew I would be fine. Los Angeles had once been like thirty-five degrees. How much worse could Hanover get?

Oh, how ignorant I was. The minute I stepped off the Dartmouth Coach yesterday evening I felt as though I had descended into a glacier. As I tried to simultaneously speed to my dorm and walk carefully to avoid ice, I slipped approximately six to ten times. How is ice so slippery if you can’t even see it, Diary? How do people get anywhere in the winter with this stuff all over the sidewalks? Well, I have some reading to do tonight. But I’m asking my UGA for some advice and I’ll let you know what she says tomorrow!

Love,

An ’18 from L.A.

 

1/6/15:

Dear Diary,

I thought today would be better. More importantly, I prepared. I left my room this morning for a breakfast meeting with my UGA decked out in the whole nine yards of winter gear. Feeling pretty good about myself, I pulled up to a table in Collis, proud to show off that the Hanover winter had nothing on me. But when my UGA arrived a minute later, she burst out laughing. Apparently, Diary, one does not generally wear ski goggles to Collis! Miffed, I followed her suggestion to take off at least two pairs of my mittens and one of my sets of earmuffs — at least as long as I was inside.

Now, I’m back in my dorm and thawing myself by the radiator. Tomorrow has to be better, right? Hanover is probably just experiencing a cold front. It’s so hard to walk with so many layers of clothing on!

Love,

An ’18 from LA

 

Installment two of Dear Diary: An '18's First Winter in Hanover will be coming to Dartbeat soon!


Caroline Berens, The Dartmouth Staff