If you looked out at the Green today, I don’t think you’d believe me that we had snow about two weeks earlier. When Spring starts, it really starts. Everyone has been embracing the weather and spending time running and eating on the  Green. And I think the mood, in general, is so much happier in the Spring!

This term has been hectic, as I have taken on a four class load rather than the average three classes per term. I am currently working on two theater projects as well. My friend, Talene is a senior fellow, which means that instead of taking classes for her senior year, she has been working on a project. As she is a theater major, she has been working on an original piece called “All in Good Fun,” which addresses the ups and downs of the Dartmouth social scene. The piece is all interview based and gives a very raw look at all Dartmouth is in the eyes of the students. The second is an original musical, written by my friends Danny and Maia. This is also interesting as it is probably the first original musical to be done in one term. It is called “Child of the World,” and has been coming together in an amazingly short period of time.

Since it is the 40th year of the Arts, I feel like the majority of my year has been spent doing things in the Hopkins Center. Whether it is listening to professional artists talk about their lives or watching incredible performers, it has been an awesome year to be involved. I am hoping that we continue this trend throughout the next few years and don’t lose momentum. Students have really taken initiative as well. There has been funding for student projects for Year of the Arts and many inspiring projects have been launched. Last week there was a concert outside of the Visual Arts Center featuring music from the ’90′s. Not only was it beautiful outside, but so many people came out to hear our friends sing anything from Beyonce to Christina Aguilera.

I am excited for the next half of the term and hopeful that it won’t fly by as fast as the first part…

Four of the performers outside of the Visual Arts Center!

This weekend was a very special weekend at Dartmouth. It was the 40^th celebration of Co-Education event, called Greenways. We are one of the last colleges to have gone co-ed in 1972 and therefore we have an incredibly strong alumni presence. This weekend hundreds of women alums formed panels and came to a breakfast, lunch, and cocktail reception.

The breakfast was lead by the President of the WNBA, Laurel Richie ’81. Laurel joked about how her eight year old niece had grown up watching women’s basketball, and that when she finally saw an NBA game she was confused as to why men played basketball. The luncheon was focused around another incredible keynote speaker, Rachel Dratch ’88. Dratch has been an incredible presence on campus this past year as one of the more famous alums in the arts world, famous for her four-year stint on SNL. Naturally, her speech had the audience laughing throughout the lunch. In between each meal were panels on things such as education, medicine, business, and theater. Each panel was stacked with accomplished alums willing to impart their wisdom.

Laurel Richie ’81, President of the WNBA at the opening address

At the reception at the end of the night, I performed with the Rockapellas. We sang an original piece by Beth Blatt ’79. She wrote a song entitled “One Woman” for the United Nations, which we had the honor of performing with some talented alumni. The piece should be on YouTube soon!

Other really incredible things this week included a lecture by Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of the article “Why Women Can’t Have it All.” The lecture hall was so filled that some people had to stand in the hallways to try and hear her speech.

This week was an incredible time to see how far Dartmouth has come as a co-educational institution. The women that have graduated are so accomplished and strong, and this weekend re-affirmed how lucky I am to be at Dartmouth College.

Anne-Marie Slaughter at a Voices in Higher Education lecture.

The entire Dartmouth College Admissions staff would like to extend a warm welcome to the Class of 2017. You were selected from an accomplished and talented group of over 22,000 applicants and we were enormously impressed and inspired.

We’ve made our choice and it’s you. We hope that you will make the decision to join us at Dartmouth this fall as a member of the Class of 2017.  You will do more at Dartmouth and here’s why:

• We have national leadership and recognition for outstanding undergraduate teaching
• Faculty across Dartmouth have an extraordinary level of involvement and desire to increase undergraduate participation in research, scholarship, and creativity
• Our unique and flexible academic calendar make it possible for a high percentage of our students to engage in global study
• The extraordinary residential campus, one-of-a-kind natural setting, and other resources provide unique curricular and co-curricular opportunities
• Dartmouth is a world-class research institution with a size and scale that fosters community and the deep engagement of faculty, staff, and students in the educational mission
• The diversity of backgrounds, interests, talents and perspectives of our students enrich our vibrant residential community
• Dartmouth guarantees to meet 100% of a student’s demonstrated financial need for all four years.

We encourage you to learn more about becoming a ’17 by visiting a web page created just for your class. There you will learn more about joining the Class of 2017 Facebook Group, Dimensions of Dartmouth – our April Regular Decision admitted student visitation program, DOC First-Year Trips, New Student Orientation and much more.

We are confident that by choosing Dartmouth you will have the tools and resources to make the most of your college experience, so do more by choosing Dartmouth!

As you probably already know, Dartmouth has a system called the D-Plan which enables everyone on campus to take one or more “off-terms” in exchange for summer terms. Since I went abroad to Lyon, France on the Language Study abroad last winter, and was on campus this summer, this term, it was time to take a term off. So, I am living at home and working for an education publishing company – Educators for Social Responsibility in Cambridge, MA. Many companies are waiting for college kids to come knocking mid-winter because everyone else is back at school. So, I am the only student intern in the entire company right now. This makes for some incredible opportunities!

Another cool job I picked up was the Intern for Social Media at a start up company called Sharitive. The company was started by a Dartmouth ’08 and just by word of mouth, the two of us connected over blitz! Now, I maintain a Twitter and Facebook page for this new nonprofit organization. It is really impressive how much opportunity comes your way.

Something I was really worried about at Dartmouth was this mentality that, “I am on campus one term, off another.” And, “for goodness sakes please make sure my best friend has the same D-Plan as me.” As someone who was off two winters in a row…I can tell you one thing, we definitely do not all have the same D-Plan. But, it is so much better than I ever could’ve imagined. People ask how the plan works out and I will be the first to tell you it keeps things interesting. It also helps to show you who your true friends are very quickly. As I went off my sophomore winter, I realized who I went to blitz first and who continuously was checking in to make sure I was okay.

A member of “Tasty Tuesdays” in front of Leo’s Diner in Harvard Square!

Not only that, but it is awesome how tight we all stay even when we aren’t in the same place. In the Boston area we have started a group called “Tasty Tuesday” as a break from our work week to try one of the many delicious places Boston has to offer. This past week I flew to California to visit one of my best friends at Dartmouth while she was recovering from foot surgery. It was an awesome vacation and it was so cool to see the state from the eyes of a local, something you can’t do on vacation with your family. Many of my friends are flying in for Winter Carnival, a time when most people who are close by will come back to Dartmouth, even on off terms.

Visiting Carissa in CA…quite the change in weather!

So, that ten week off term probably looks a lot shorter and less lonely than anticipated at this point. And Winter Carnival is only two weeks away!

I just got back from the Dartmouth Rockapellas first ever international tour to Nepal! Each year, around winter break, all the a cappella groups go on tour, usually to places like New England or the West Coast. However, one of our members proposed the idea of doing a benefit tour about two years ago. The past few years have been spent raising money in order to send our entire group to Nepal in support of the Nepal Foundation!

The school children heard us singing from the bus and ran up to Meredith’s window!

We left right after Thanksgiving and arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 27th! From then on we had a jam packed schedule. We met the Nepali Scouts, a group of about eight high school and college age students who dance. At each of our performances around Kathmandu, they came with us to perform. We started out at a private school and ended our week at an old folks home (Pashupati) and  an orphanage. Each concert was nothing like any other concert the Rocks have done before. The people were warm and welcoming and most groups thanked us with necklaces of marigolds, thank you notes, and bead necklaces. It was one of the first times I have experienced the universal power of music. The students and adults alike were thrilled to experience a little bit of American culture and the beautiful sounds we produced. One of the highlights of the week was playing a game of “I catch the ball” with the Nepali Scouts (a Nepalese game in English) and us teaching them the “Salty Dog Rag” (a dance we learn on First Year Trips).

This is me with one of the Nepalese Scouts (dancers) at our final concert!

After the week was up, we packed all of our gear into one backpack and started on a five day trek in the Himalayas! This was when our Dartmouth Outing Club skills were put to the test. We did a path on Annapurna called the Poon Hill trek. This was described as the “easiest trek, for beginners.” Ummmm yeah right. Because we started at the altitude of the highest peak in New England, we described our trek as quite the “strugglebus.” Although we all finishedand had some of the most spectacular views we have ever seen. We thought the Appalachian Mountains were beautiful…the Himalayas are without comparison.

Me with two of the other ’14′s in front of some beautiful peaks!

This years tour was the adventure of a lifetime and I am so grateful to have done it with my closest friends at Dartmouth! I think that this is probably my most memorable tour to date and I can’t wait to be back performing with them again in the Spring!

When we woke up the first morning, this was our view. Unbelievable!