Hello! My name is Chase and I am a '25 from South Carolina. I'm currently considering studying more film scoring and video game composition to learn about writing music for movies and games! But when I'm not hanging out with friends or doing classwork, you can find me composing music. I'm involved in the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble (DCWE), Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra (DCO), and the fraternity Zeta Psi.
As someone who did not know the ins and outs of marine policy, I loved learning about aspects of the blue economy. This class encourages us to be aware of the human aspect of marine problems regarding coastal erosion, pollution, and climate change. Professor Webster is the coolest!
I could not recommend this class enough to anyone who goes to this school! Professor Beaudoin has truly influenced me as both a musician and a student. We learn the music from the 1800's to present day including famous composers like Tchaikovsky, but also music by Beyonce and even the music of Dartmouth's professors. This is much more than a music history class. It is a class about music, our lives, and exploring the concept of sonder through musical lens.
If you're scared of coding or have a love for music, this is the class for you. This computer science class is cross-listed with music to teach students how to code using a language called processing to learn the basic principles of design through coding. We created several projects throughout the term, but Professor Casey really taught me that there is more to music than I think. For my final, I created an interactive keyboard which created a visual effect for each key that created music which made it a musical instrument! Genuinely such an amazing and fun class that I think people should consider.
Although this class is only offered during the F.I.R.E. study abroad program, it was such an amazing class. I absolutely adored having Professor Canepa teach us about Italy from its politics, music, food, and much much more. This class taught me hands on what Italian culture is through visits to famous landmarks, food tastings, or tours of Italian regions. If you don't want to study abroad, I suggest taking a class with Professor Canepa because she truly is one of my favorite professors I have had yet.
FallHanover, New Hampshire
I was on an off term, but decided to live on campus to join a fraternity and work in town. I took the time to write music for one of my friend's short films and learned a lot about the film music industry.
Dr. Moseley has been one of my most favorite professors by far. I have loved taking this class to divulge into my musical passion through creating music and learning about ways to create music. If you are interested in taking a music class, I highly recommend Dr. Moseley if you find a class with him that interests you!
I took this class with composer Miguel Kertsman who was incredibly knowledgeable in every type of compositional technique that I wanted. I studied electronic music composition with him to understand music digital signal processing better.
Although I'm not a fan of reading literature for the classroom, this class completely changed the way I perceive literature. I adored this class with Prof. Hollister as it engaged with the dissections of film, novels, and short stories regarding how humanity views the end of the world.
I took an off-term this Fall, but I decided to sit in on a class on how to arrange music for strings and woodwinds! After many hours of long work, I had a piece performed and recorded by professional musicians that I worked on in the class!
This has to be arguably one of my favorite classes I have taken at Dartmouth with one of the most qualified and talented professors! Throughout the term, I mixed eight different songs of all different genres and learned the ins and outs of sound engineering. This means figuring out the best ways to create and produce music in the industry. Now, I feel confident publishing my own music and have started helping others publish theirs too by working on their projects!
If I were to tell myself in high school that I would join a fraternity, I definitely would have laughed in my face and said something like "you're so goofy for thinking I'd ever do that." Now, here I am at Dartmouth this term where I rushed and am happier than ever. If you have not heard, Dartmouth does have a large Greek life scene on campus. You will hear about it all the time, but it is so much more than people partying and dancing inside of their favorite house basements.
We went to Boston for a meeting with other Zeta Psi Chapters
During this fall, I rushed a fraternity called Zeta Psi which is one of the few national fraternities on our campus. The rush process and new member training is definitely a time-demanding factor for new members. It's a time commitment because showing you are putting effort and time into the process means you want to be a part of something. Dartmouth has 13 fraternities, 8 sororities, and 3 gender-inclusive houses that people are a part of. However, I knew I wanted to join Zeta Psi for many reasons. Of course, I wanted to join the few friends I knew in the house, but I knew the culture of Zete is one that I appreciated the most.
A selfie at the Boston event
Prior to coming to Dartmouth, I figured it would be hard for me to fit in with any crowd that a fraternity offers or holds. Now, I see that Dartmouth has so many spaces for people to join (even if that is not Greek life-related). Zete has given me so many resources, dozens of new friends to say hi to and play video games with, and so many connections just from simple talks about ourselves. I've participated in house traditions and events like our Zete Night Late Night where we cook hamburgers for campus to enjoy.
Picture of my rush class at holiday formal! Shoutout to the boys!
I could keep going on about how much I love the brotherhood of Zete, but there is one thing I personally believe before ending this post. If you are scared by the fact Dartmouth has a lot of Greek life involvement, do not be. There are so many options for people at Dartmouth to become a part of, and people feel scared transitioning to any college they choose. Everyone finds their place with their amazing group of friends and I believe that Dartmouth supports everyone and their decisions (whether or not they are involved with Greek spaces).
Dartmouth doesn't just care about the intellectual state of student minds but also their health and happiness. Through this week's monastic programming, I have found our commitment to mental health to be loud and clear.
Being a super senior ('23) is like being an incoming freshman ('28) in that you get to make a new set of friends. Luckily, Dartmouth is a small school with many social spaces students can tap into.
