Freshman Trips

Imagine you are a freshman arriving for your first day at college. You don't know any of the people you will share your academic and social life with for the next 4 years, only know a little about the school, and hell, you need a map to find your dorm. That was my experience two years ago.

after my freshman trips!

Now imagine you are an upperclassman with two years of school experience organizing and running a freshman orientation program, trying to make freshman more comfortable, knowledgeable, and confident for their first college experience. Also, you are tasked with continuously improving the whole orientation experience. That is freshman trips at Dartmouth which I was fortunate to participate in as "mountain bike croo" this fall.

Let me explain how "trips" are run at Dartmouth, so things make sense. Freshman trips are a student run program. This means that everything from buying toilet paper to cracking hundreds of eggs for breakfasts is all done by student volunteers. How many volunteers?

- There is a director and co-director, who work on the vision plus the nitty gritty details.

- There is a head safety chief who makes sure that all trip leaders have safety equipment and are trained for emergencies.

- There are trip leader trainers who train all 250 trip leaders so they not only safely lead their freshmen, but also facilitate conversation and team building on trips, and continue engaging with their "tripees" upon return to campus.

- Then there are the many trip croo’s. Hanover croo (Hcroo) does gear rentals, the first dinner and breakfast for the new arrivals before they head off on their trips. Plus they coordinate transportation, perform a safety show, and help the leaders – a lot of work.

- Then there are the specialized croos: Climbing croo facilitates the climbing trips. Grant croo lives at the Second College Grant and helps the kayaking/canoeing trips. Vox croo lives halfway between the White Mountains and Hanover, serving as a first response team for hiking trips. Oak Hill Croo, my croo, facilitates the mountain biking and ropes course trips.

- After their time with hiking/biking/kayaking croos and their trip experience, the trips end up at the Mousilake Ravine Lodge where lodge croo helps them meet the other freshman in their section, bags up their gear and sends them off to school.

dinner on the last night at the lodge!

What happens on the individual trips is a valuable experience. The trip leaders prepare freshman  for what it truly means to live with 900 other college student on a campus. This means being able to "show off" talents when appropriate and listen at other times. Tripees spend hours telling stories, getting to know each other and learning how unique everyone is. Even though Dartmouth students are all driven and smart individuals, they come from tons of different backgrounds. One of the many goals of trips is to discover – that everyone doesn't arrive with the same outlook, and this is a very good thing.

bike work was never ending! even with hair dye in

As a member of the Oak Hill croo, we were not only tasked to teach freshman how to safely mountain bike and navigate the ropes course, but also to keep in mind all of the deeper (and more important) goals of trips.

As a further challenge, this was Oak Hill croo's first year; we had a lot to prepare. There were five of us on croo, and all summer we worked on becoming ropes course certified. I pushed through a proposal to build a mountain biking skills course, and the minute my last summer final exam ended, I started building the course. The course consists of two bridges, two logs and a teeter totter. In the future we hope to add many more features, so that any biker can come out of the skills course a better rider.

the skills course coming together!

With the skills course complete, it was time to change into uniform – the most ridiculous looking clothing and hair you can ever imagine and helmet covers to boot. As upperclassmen in a position of ‘authority’, we didn’t want to seem intimidating, so we dressed to impress!

L to R Lorin,Evan, Brett, Peety, David -- spice girls raid

After getting into gear, we prepared as a team to perfect our routine. With each incoming trip, we started off with a raid. A raid is a silly way to break the ice that is much more than a "hi". For one biking trip, we dressed up in our best greaser outfits and performed a greased lightning skit.

greased lightning raid

After the raid, we led a warmup. This is really important; we don’t want tripees feeling awkward on their bikes, so we WOBBLE. The wobble is both a really silly dance and also a really good bike warmup – what do you know!

the wobble!

Once we are all warmed up, we get on the bikes, start working on skills and get to know everyone.  I met a freshman that started writing computer code in fourth grade, one that writes a poem every day, and one that had to decide between living with her mom and attend a bad school or her dad and attend a good school. The incredible stories and backgrounds shared during water breaks and waiting for the next riding challenge made me reflect about how I interact with people I meet for the first time. With each trip I improved at remembering names and getting to know individuals.  And after each trip came through, I would get to know the members of our croo a little better. As a team, we chased off curious skunks by blasting the wobble, made dinner in the fire when we ran out of stove fuel, and went for quick ‘showers’ in the pond.

a turning drill

Each day we would have groups from 9-1, 2-6, and then a campfire chat from 8-10. On top of this, we planed, debriefed, and fixed bikes. Each night I went to bed exhausted and woke up drowsy, but each time I saw the next group of freshman dance the wobble for the first time, or smile after nailing a skill, or thankful that someone wanted to hear their story it gave me a rush of energy.

I know that I am going to crash after trips, hate the world and sleep for days, but I don’t care. Right now is for freshman. And when I finally wake up, I am going to be really happy to get to know the 17’s a little better, because in two years they are going to be running the place.

Oh, and if you are still confused about what the WOBBLE is, check it out here.