Dear Dartmouth,

WELCOME (BACK)!!!

Whether this is your first term of enrollment or you’re a seasoned Dartmouth student, our team at the Student Wellness Center (SWC) is grateful to have you as part of our ’20-’21 community. As everyone is acknowledging everywhere, this is a unique year in the life of the institution, and we want to understand and support you through the experiences that await you throughout this academic year.

This is a year marked by transitions and uncertainty. As you navigate the impact of those factors on your life, it can be easy to fall into some less-than-helpful beliefs about yourself. You might feel like an imposter, encounter new questions about your academic abilities or relationships, or feel that you need to prove yourself in some way in order to fit in. We can assure you that you are not alone. Many students are feeling the same thing. But know this:

You are here because you deserve to be here.

You belong at Dartmouth, and you can be successful here.

And you’re an important member of this community. You matter here.

Your time at Dartmouth may involve experiences that are challenging or even humbling, but those same moments can also be opportunities to discover who you want to be and what you’re capable of accomplishing. And because you are part of Dartmouth, you can leverage the tremendous resources of this institution to start creating the life you want to be living right now.

Whoever you are and wherever you may be, please know that in addition to the transitions and uncertainty, this is also a year of opportunity for you. In all the turmoil of 2020, we are reminded that change is a constant in the world. It’s a reminder that you’re not stuck, and that literally anything can (and sometimes does) happen. The capacities you cultivate to respond to the ever-changing contexts around you will help you develop awareness and strengths that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

Over the next term, we will be using this blog to share a framework of capacities that we believe can contribute to your wellbeing. We refer to this framework as the Pathways to Wellbeing. There are five components that make up our approach: Cultivating Perspective, Engaging Mindfully, Connecting Authentically, Acting Intentionally, and Living Meaningfully. Every other week (or so) we will dive in to one of the pathways, offer some questions to help you reflect on where you’re at along this pathway, invite you to try some practices that can help you further develop this capacity for yourself, and highlight some of the resources on campus that connect well with each area.

We look forward to introducing you to a deeper understanding of our wellbeing work, and learning more with you about the different dimensions of the human experience that connect with each of these pathways. We encourage you to place equal importance on both doing well and BEING well during your time as a student here, and look forward to meeting or deepening our relationship with you over the course of this year.

Take care and be well,
Todd