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What’s Your First Year Trips Story?

We asked for your favorite memories

A group of trippies from the Class of 2003 posing in front of Robinson Hall.

2 minute read

Courtney Hall

Dartmouth Spirit Student Life

From classic outdoor adventures such as hiking in the White Mountains or kayaking on the Connecticut River to more recent, closer-to-home options, including organic farming and fashion and sustainable design explorations on campus, First-Year Trips has been a Dartmouth tradition since 1935. Originally developed by the Dartmouth Outing Club to increase membership, Trips has evolved over the decades into a hallmark of the first-year Dartmouth experience. You don’t have to go on a trip as a freshman, but those who do remember it forever.     

We asked alumni for their First-Year Trip stories, and here are a few of our favorites:   

Sarah Sliva ’03

Oh, man. I’m Class of ’03. I did section C kayaking. On the bus ride up to the Whites, one of the upperclassmen announced to the bus that moose are afraid of wolves and dogs. So, if we saw or heard a moose, we should get on our hands and knees and bark like a dog. I filed this tidbit away in my mind in case I needed it later. That night, we heard some low-pitched mooing and grunting noises in the woods, and our leader declared, “That must be moose!” I was barking into the darkness as if my life depended on it because I thought it did! Turns out we were just being raided. I ended up dating an upperclassman my freshman spring. I told him that story, and he said, “Wait! That was YOU?!” Apparently, I’m a legend for my gullibility. 

A group of trippies from the Class of 2003 posing by the river.

Rachel Drew ’98 

My First-Year Trips story? I met my future husband Jonathan Drew ’98 (a fellow trippie) on mine! We hiked through rain and mud for three days, and on the last morning, he lent me a pair of dry socks—and I never gave them back!  

Two students posing together with arms around in each other. They are both wearing their Dartmouth 98 long sleeved class T shirts.

Finding Forever Love on First-Year Trips  

Dartmouth love stories are quite common, but for some alums, finding their forever person happened at the very beginning of their First-Year Trips! We’ve featured many of your Big Green love stories in past years. Here are a few more special couples who also met as trippies.

Don Casler ’14 and Taylor Malmsheimer ’15

“We loved exploring the greater outdoors in Hanover—hiking, swimming in the river, and leading DOC trips.”  

  

Phyllis Steinberg Fagell ’95 and Steve Fagell ’95

“We are both from Massachusetts and met in the parking lot just before we left for First-Year Trips. Steve came over to say hello because he recognized my mother from a local event for admitted students that we both attended.”  

Allie Gray ’15 and Josh Glikin ’15

“We were trippies and studied on the Rome art history FSP together as friends and started dating after college in New York City.” The pair tied the knot last May.   

Meet our New Social Media Intern  

We’d like to introduce Carter Bartel ’27, our new Dartmouth Alumni social media intern for the 2024-2025 school year. Carter is a Trips leader and had the honor of taking members of the Class of 2028 on their first official Dartmouth adventure. Here’s a look at today’s First-Year Trips experience for the newest members of the Dartmouth community. 

Do you have a Trips story about love, disaster, or dirty socks? Send it in, and we’ll add it to the saga!  

  

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