Spring is here. . . finally. . .

Hello from (now finally warm) Hanover!

As Scud (Elisa Scudder) said on our walk to get breakfast from lift yesterday, it seems like the entire campus has bloomed overnight. The trees are finally covered in leaves again, there are BEAUTIFUL flowers popping up everywhere, and the Green is actually green, which is always a nice change from the mud that's been there for a few months. The spring is definitely one of the best terms on campus because it seems like the whole campus is in a great mood, especially coming off of what was a ridiculously long winter with a snowstorm in the middle of April. With new puppies all over, barbecues, sunrise hikes, and trips to Ice Cream Fore U, it's pretty easy to see why people love it. However, after the first few sunny days there were definitely a lot of very red people walking around after trying to reverse the Hanover "tan".

With regards to volleyball, we're still rocking the early mornings. It's definitely different playing with a team of only 11 in the spring, but it's a nice chance to reconnect as a team after being apart all winter. Our two conditioning sessions per week with our amazing new strength and conditioning coach have been preparing us to crush the sprint test next Thursday and getting some competitive spirit going with relay races as surprises. We're in the middle of max week right now, which is our favorite week of the term for lifting because we get to push ourselves as far as we can go and see all of our lifts from the term pay off in the numbers. We even have an all-athlete record board that was recently put up in the weight room, so hopefully we'll be representing on that! 

Outside of volleyball, the spring gives us a chance to get involved with some of the incredible things Dartmouth has to offer beyond athletics. While we tend to take our hardest classes in the spring, the whole atmosphere is more laid-back and it's definitely more relaxing studying on the Green or by the river than in the library! Most clubs and organizations also go into overdrive in the spring, so there are even more opportunities than usual to get involved in community service projects like Relay for Life, cooking at David's House, or volunteering at the Upper Valley Special Olympic, just to name a few. Paige, Kaira, and I had the chance to volunteer with the swimming events at the Special Olympics last weekend and had a blast! We met some wonderful swimmers from around the area, did a whole lot of cheering, and Paige and Kaira did a great job handing out awards :) 

Given that it took the weather a few weeks to realize what term we were in and actually get warm, it seems like the spring has gone by absurdly quickly and it's absolutely crazy that 13S is wrapping up already. The rest of the 15s and I are lucky enough to get to come back after two weeks for our Sophomore Summer, but unfortunately it means another term of our team being spread out across the country. However, this spring has been a great time to refocus on getting better and stronger with each opportunity, and I know that we'll all be working as hard as we can wherever we are so that when we reconvene in 3 short months we'll be ready to crush preseason!

Alex Schoenberger '15