As a Dartmouth student who has finally reached Interim (the period between Fall and Winter terms), you may think the obvious choice is to get off campus for a few weeks. Here are 5 reasons you should consider staying in Hanover during the break.
1. You get campus all to yourself
Yeah, the lines at Greenprint are shorter (just in case you desperately need a hard copy of your Holiday wish list to mail to Santa/Mom/the Hanukkah Fairy, STAT), but with so few people here, Dartmouth Secure runs faster than a bunny rabbit on speed. And the buffering wait time isn’t the only thing that’s shorter—for the first time in history, the line at KAF doesn’t extend halfway down FFB. Now is your moment to order that non-fat-no-foam-two-pump-vanilla-one-pump-mocha-extra-hot latte without pissing off the barista, my friends. In your pajamas. Because if you walk through the libs rocking the PJs/fuzzy-Christmas-socks-with-no-shoes look when there’s no one here to see you, it didn’t actually happen.
2. You get more 1-on-1 time with profs
There’s no escape—you’re going to eventually run into one or more of your professors, so make the most out of it! Ask how his/her day is going. Ask what plans s/he might have for winter break. Then ask him/her to coffee. Professors are real people, too (I know, crazy!), and many of them love getting to know their students.
3. You’re bound to make some new friends
Among all 10 undergraduates that have chosen to torture themselves...er, stay in Hanover over interim, there are inevitably 1 or 2 that will become your Interim BFF (IBFF). Like ingredients in a pressure cooker, your relationship is going to develop hot and fast. You’re going to do everything (and I mean everything) with your IBFFs—decide between Novack and the Hop for lunch, play pong at 1pm out of sheer boredom, watch all the Star Wars movies back-to-back, try to “borrow” chairs from the library at 2am, realize that there are security cameras in the library at 2:03am...Just be careful—pressure cookers sometimes explode if they aren’t regulated. Don’t spend so much time with your new IBFFs that they become WTANs—Winter Term Arch Nemeses.
4. You appreciate what Hanover has to offer...
With all the free time you have, you can do all those things that you’ve been meaning to do since freshman fall: sit in Nathan’s Garden and admire how the frost turns everything into a Narnian grotto. Go to the Howe Library and snuggle down in front of their (real!) fireplace with a trashy novel. Watch the sun set over the River, then head back up to Dirt Cowboy for some seasonal eggnog.
5. ...and you appreciate what you already have
It’s true—absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Whether it’s sleep or your favorite TV show, interim is the perfect time to catch up on what you’ve been missing. It’s like rediscovering Lost/Game of Thrones/Real World (shh don’t judge)/naps all over again! And when/if you finally do go home for Christmas after cursing yourself for staying in Hanover for four weeks longer than everyone else, you’ll appreciate your family, too!