6 Hours In A Car

Today was a novel experience for me. We toured Boston Dartmouth Universities, located in Boston, Massachusetts (of course!) and Hanover, New Hampshire respectively. This meant that in a single day we drove from Rhode Island to Massachusetts to New Hampshire and back again. Seeing as it can take about 10 hours just to get from San Francisco to Oregon, I was amazed at the ease with which we crossed state lines. Everything is so conveniently close!

Boston University, while not originally on our itinerary, turned out to be an extremely enjoyable place. It was about a one hour drive to Boston, and it was on the way to Dartmouth so it was very convenient. The campus seemed quite cozy and all of the buildings were right next to each other without being cramped in any way. A couple especially appealing facts about BU were the four years guaranteed housing and urban location. Boston seems like a wonderful city, bustling with life yet not overwhelming. Our tour guide, Anna, did a commendable job in selling her school to us. I had a lot of fun on our campus tour and I learned a lot about BU.

A dorm room at BU

A beautiful building on the BU campus

We then headed to Hanover for a tour of Dartmouth. Ava, Rebecca, Caroline, and I prepared for a long, two and a half hour car ride. I was attempting to catch up on some sleep, but I was rudely jolted awake by wild swerving and honking. A truck driver had nearly run us off the road! Luckily, Ms. Larson’s mad driving skills kept us on course. :) Without any more excitement, we arrived safely in Hanover.

At the Canoe Club, we met with John Beck, a Dartmouth alum and admissions officer, and Clark, a rising junior at Dartmouth. They were kind enough to answer all of our questions about student life and the admissions process. After lunch, Clark took us on a tour of the campus. I had no problems with the idea of secluded, small town life (Hanover has a population of approximately 11,000), but was unsure if I liked or disliked the unique Dartmouth quarter schedule. I did love the Dartmouth landscape–massive brick buildings, wide green lawns, and the gorgeous surrounding forests.

A Dartmouth fraternity house

Everyone takes a brief rest

The oldest building on campus

At the end of our tour, we said goodbye to Clark and prepared for the long ride home.

When I wasn’t dozing in the backseat, I passed the time by staring out of the windows and admiring the East Coast scenery. I continue to be amazed by all of the beauty here. I knew that I would love the profusion of forests and greenery, but I hadn’t expected to fall in love with the beautiful brownstone buildings. Because of the earthquake risks, California lacks the brick structures that seem so typical in classic East Coast architecture.

Instead of a fancy dinner, tonight we met with our buddies from Brown Session I and they gave us advice about life at Brown. After our discussion, I am much more excited to enter dorm life and I find that I’m sad that we’re only staying for a two week program.

Lastly, I need to announce something very important: Today was my friend Josie's birthday! Happy 17th Josie! I hope today was everything you could hope for