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 have written about Spare Rib before, the intersectional feminist zine at Dartmouth, which I named the best campus community ever. I still firmly believe that it is indeed the best campus community there is for people like me who want to discuss social issues in a welcoming community working to make Dartmouth's campus and the world a better place. I have been getting more and more involved with Spare Rib each term since my freshman spring, so let me tell you more about this journey!
I joined Spare Rib my first-year spring, which was a really turbulent and difficult period of my life. Quickly, Spare Rib became a haven, where I could process everything happening in my life through writing in the company of people who truly cared. When I returned to Spare Rib my sophomore fall, I knew I wanted to take more responsibility for the organization, so I started editing, copy editing, and learning audio editing for the audio magazine. I started attending more socials to get to know the people better. My favorite social is, by far, Sip'n'Flip, during which we view the newest issue of Spare Rib while munching on some delicious food and tasting drinks.
My favorite thing about Spare Rib is that it operates on a horizontal leadership model and uses consensus decision-making, which means all major decisions regarding the organization are made through everyone's involvement. Even if one member blocks a decision with good reason, the decision does not pass. There is still an executive board in Spare Rib because someone has to manage the many operations of the magazine, but there is no hierarchy within the execs, and no applications to join. Leadership is on a volunteer basis, and all executive meetings are always open to non-exec members. I joined the exec board my sophomore winter as a community development lead; My job was to foster connections within and outside of the organization through events and by introducing new systems. I have learned a lot from my co-lead, Maanasi, who is among the handful of people who restarted Spare Rib during the pandemic. It was such an honor and a privilege to work with her!
Now, I returned to Spare Rib for my junior winter as a general manager. I am responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly, but I am still getting the hang of the position.
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
