Hello, Eda here: full-time learner, part-time writer, and pretty much a happy amateur at everything else. My hobbies include reading, discovering new movies, and looking at the pictures of my cat. On campus, you can find me peer supporting for the Mental Health Union and SAPA, writing for Spare Rib, doing research in psychology, or listening to Turkish & English alt-rock. Feel free to ask me about taking a gap year, transitioning to a new cultural space, or college in general!
This class discusses the concepts of sex and gender in the broader context of issues related to race, class, national identity, and more. I loved this class because it helped me better understand how systemic inequality affects individual lives and made me think about ways to change it. Professor A'Ness is such an inspiring prof!
In this first-year writing seminar, we discussed how avant-garde movements from futurism to punk rock have constituted a rebellion against the status quo. I loved all the readings for this class and Professor McCann inspired me to take more courses in the English department!
In this course, we learned all the basics of fiction: character, plot, setting, etc. My favorite parts of the course were receiving feedback from other students, reading my peers' work, and having fiction readings as assigned course work! I also appreciated all the guest speakers we had, who were experienced writers in their respective genres.
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this course has been one of the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth so far. The class focused on the etiology, diagnosis, characteristics and treatment of various mental disorders. Professor Hudenko has been one of the greatest lectures I had the pleasure of meeting. As a clinical psychologist himself, he had extensive knowledge in not only the theory, but also the practice of clinical psychology. He also succeeded in making a lecture-based class feel interactive and dynamic.
We covered the complex neural and biological mechanisms of multiple mental health disorders ranging from common conditions like anxiety to more complicated illnesses such as schizophrenia. In addition to reading about the cutting-edge research in this area, we also read memoirs and watched documentaries about the mental illnesses to focus on how these conditions are affecting people in real life. Professor Funnell is one of the best profs I had!
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this has been one of my favorite classes at Dartmouth. We learned about different therapy methods, how and when to use them, their advantages, and shortcomings. The class was incredibly engaging with Professor Hudenko's frequent demonstrations of methods, therapy videos, and guest speakers. I would recommend this class to every psychology major.
I worked at Dimock Health Center as part of my community health internship. I was part of a team of summer interns who were college students like myself. We worked as patient advocates that helped people reach out to resources regarding housing, food, utilities, etc. Most of our work involved calling patients, helping them fill out forms, and researching resources. I learned so much about community health resources and how to communicate with a diverse set of patients. It was an invaluable experience!
I took classes in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London. My favorite class of the term was called London Performance Now, which involved going to different performance events in London and discussing them in class. It was the perfect opportunity to explore the cultural landscape of London.
As the title of the course suggests, this class was about food: its history, economics, and cultural practices. I learned a lot through this course thanks to guest speakers, thought-provoking readings, and engaging assignments. My favorite assignment in this course was writing about a family recipe; I learned so much about my family's history as well as the cultural conflicts in my home country. Overall, it was among the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth. Plus, we even got to eat delicious food cooked by our classmates!
I start work at 10 am on Mondays and Wednesdays and at 9.30 am on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I wake up about an hour before work, which gives me enough time to get ready, have a quick breakfast, and make it to work on time because I have been lucky enough that our college-arranged housing in MassArt dorms is quite close to my workplace. It only takes me about 18 minutes to get to work!
I start my day at work by picking up the social needs screens given to patients before their appointments, which ask about their needs related to housing, food, transportation, utilities, etc. I work only with adult medicine patients, while some of my fellow interns at the Dimock Center work with pediatrics and OB/GYN. I enter the social needs information into our electronic system so that we can keep track of patient needs and know how to outreach to them. If I have not received any voicemail, I proceed to work with the caseload my supervisor assigned me. My job is outreach to patients according to their social need information. Some patients need what we call a "rapid resource referral," meaning that we rapidly determine needs with an initial call, give them appropriate social need resource information, and close the case after encouraging the patient to reach out if more needs arise. Other cases require more frequent follow-up until client needs are met. For instance, I am currently working on a furniture bank referral for a patient who is moving into the community after living in a shelter. That case will remain open until the client receives their furniture. It is fulfilling to be able to see patients meet their needs, which is unfortunately rare with rapid resource referrals. Issues such as housing take a long time to resolve due to limitations of resources, so it is hard to come to terms with the fact that I will never see most of my clients safely housed. Despite the emotional challenges of the internship, I find this work fulfilling and intellectually engaging. It makes me think about how community health can be better managed to prevent clients from ever needing people like patient advocacy interns in the first place. I have plenty of time to discuss issues like these with my coworkers as we take around an hour of lunch together every day. It's been lovely getting to know them as they are all incredibly inspiring and amazing human beings.
I end work around 5 pm every day. After that, I usually cook, rest, do some chores, and call my partner before bed. On Thursdays, DCSI organizes professional development opportunities for us. For instance, a few weeks ago, we visited Harvard School of Public Health and met with Dr. Alan Geller and Dartmouth alum Lindsey Renner. They gave us an overview of a Master in Public Health and a short tour of the School of Public Health. Afterward, we headed to get a free meal on the DCSI budget as a cohort. It is nice to get a free meal once every two weeks and hear about the internship experiences of my cohort members.
This was a quick summary of a day in my life in Boston. Thanks for reading!
What kind of classes do you take in a subject-based Foreign Study Program? Here's a rundown of my classes in the Music FSP in London to give you an idea of what academic life is like in the program!
After returning from an enriching study abroad program, I'm diving into a bustling spring semester here at Dartmouth. Here are my four courses I'm taking this term!
Dartmouth's liberal arts curriculum pushes students to explore new departments and draw connections between seemingly disparate disciplines. Come explore my Economics, Physics, and Asian, Societies, Cultures, and Languages classes!
