About the Series: Tuck offers students a diverse and unique experience, both in and outside of the classroom. While people may consider Hanover, New Hampshire a small town with limited opportunities to pursue one's interest, Tuck’s close relationship with the rest of the Dartmouth community and Upper Valley actually enables opportunities that may not be available elsewhere. One such example is through intercollegiate athletics where a number of Tuckies are currently participating as players and coaches in sports such as rowing, baseball, water polo, and softball. Fanis, Felix, and Carolyn share their perspective including lessons in time management, leadership, and community.
Carolyn Meyer, T’15 grew up in Wilton, CT. She graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in economics and spent three years working for a consulting firm which specializes in CPG marketing. This summer, Carolyn will be interning at Ocean Spray as an Assistant Marketing Manager where she will be eating a lot of cranberries. She is also a member of the Dartmouth women’s water polo team which won the New England Conference championship and competed in the National Championship in Geneva, Ohio.
How and why did you get involved with athletics while at Tuck?
Similar to Fanis, water polo was a sport that I loved and played growing up. During the summer, before starting at Tuck, I tried to look for information online on how to participate but couldn’t find any. But being the small world that Tuck is, I was connected to Fanis who enlisted me to join the women’s team. I couldn’t pass on the chance to get back in the pool. It is a much better alternative to treadmills and way more fun than going to the gym!
How has this affected your Tuck experience?
This was a great stress outlet, especially during recruiting. It also gave me a chance to share experiences with people who are not closely connected with life at Tuck and get a different perspective of our time in Hanover. However, it was difficult to balance the schedule at times, particularly with having to make trade-offs with the many Tuck social events and taking away much needed sleep on occasion because of late night practices.
What is it about Tuck that’s enabled the experience?
The inclusive culture at Dartmouth and the desire and ability to connect between schools through faculty and students gives Tuckies access to many unique opportunities. The small and close Dartmouth network also limits the formal barriers to working on a project or playing on a team outside the immediate Tuck community. I just sent an email to the captains and joined the team on the pool deck the next day.
What was your favorite part of the of 1st year experience?
My favorite part of the 1st year was how easy it was to have small group events such as impromptu dinners and have a great time with anyone in the Tuck community including students, staff, and faculty. I loved adding to my costume box and actually using it all every weekend for the many socials on campus (at least when I’m actually at Tuck and not doing water polo things).