Birthdays in Dartmouth

You often hear that "Dartmouth is about the people." It is difficult to really understand what this means until you become a Dartmouth student. Everybody has friends from home, friends from high school or summer camps, and then suddenly meeting a campus full of strangers may be a little overwhelming at first. However, within the small town of Hanover, the all-freshmen dormitories and Dartmouth Outing Trips, amazing new friendships are formed. Even though my friends at Dartmouth are only ‘a year old’, I can say that they are some of my best friends. The Dartmouth experience is so unique and special, and just being part of that creates a connection between people.

Today was my friend Liz’s birthday, and it was such a picture-perfect demonstration of the Dartmouth friendship.

Our surprise party for Liz took place at night on the balcony of her dorm room in the East Wheelock Cluster. About 20 of Liz’s friends all gathered, huddled outside in the cold with a cake lit with candles. Since Liz is from Texas, a couple of us had western boots and cowboy hats on. We had told Liz we were taking her to a fancy restaurant at the Hanover Inn, so when she stepped out all dressed up, she saw a bunch of people (some with awkward Texas-ware) lurking outside the balcony with a cake on fire.

Once she came out to the balcony, some of the friends who sing for X.ado (a co-ed Christian a cappella group) had an a cappella rendition of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. Another friend followed up with an acoustic guitar serenade. After that, it was food and gift-opening. The cake from Lou’s (a local bakery on Main Street) was devoured within minutes. With plenty of hugs and pictures to commemorate, I could tell that this would make it onto Liz’s best birthdays list. You may be away from your family and home town friends, but Dartmouth students know how to take care of each other!