First, I'll explain who I am. I'm Nicholas Sugiarto, a '23 from San Diego, California. Second, a quick disclaimer. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Prior to Dartmouth, I've never hiked, skied, or seen snow. So yeah, you could say that Dartmouth is quite a bit different from what I'm used to. You'll probably find me on campus lost. I have no sense of direction. Please help.
A class studying how Christian language has permeated into how we as a society talk about economics. I have virtually no interest in either field as a major, nor am I really religious, but the class is super fun! It challenges you to think in ways that aren't outstandingly obvious, but get more and more interesting if you're willing to put the time in to thinking about them. It's by no means your traditional class. At least in the high school I came from, the idea of dedicating an entire term to a topic as niche as this is unheard of. But honestly? That just makes it so much more fulfilling. Like most Dartmouth classes, there's a ton of freedom to explore topics that interest you. For my final term paper, since I'm a huge hip hop fan, I wrote about the religious and economic underpinnings of Kendrick Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost." Without diving too deep into the jargon, I argued that money according to Kendrick Lamar, is defined by Western capitalism heavily intertwined with American Prosperity Gospel; its true nature, on the other hand, is a form of spiritual exchange. I loved this class so much that I was able to take my professor out to breakfast (on Dartmouth's dime, of course. Quick college lesson, never, ever pay for food. Live life Aladdin style.).
For those that don't know, Writing 5 is a class that's mandated for all Freshman. It helps you adjust to college writing, research, all that good stuff. There's a ton of topics to choose from, ranging from the criminal justice system to how food affects your mind. I personally chose "Pursuit of Happiness" because, well, who doesn't want to be happy? This class was my first intro to what the Dartmouth academic experience is really about. It was a small class of only 16 strong where classes were discussion-based and the professor's door is always open. It goes without saying that the course was immensely interesting (is there really a way to make happiness boring?), and we studied a vast majority of topics from Aristotle to Voltaire to Biochemical research studies. I tell incoming students all the time that if you want to make the most of your Dartmouth experience, take classes that interest you and make what you do with those classes interesting too. There's nothing more painful than having to write a paper on a topic you find absolutely mind-numbingly dull. Given my fascination with stand up comedy, I focused on viewing comedy as a form of happiness, starting from comedy in relation to Camus's absurd, the higher prevalence of mental illness in comedians, and what kind of comedians deserve happiness. Honestly? Even though this class was technically "mandatory," I would have taken it regardless.
This is the class I'm currently taking, and it's by far my favorite. You couldn't tell by my posts, or my favorite classes I listed earlier, but I'm actually a huge STEM guy. I'm a biomedical engineering major for a reason, and Dartmouth classes really make STEM fun. They're also so easy a child could follow them. Literally. I'm using the computer science 1 curriculum to teach my little sister coding. At a slower pace of course. She's not THAT smart (yet). I've never tried coding before, but the task-based approach of the CS department really makes things interesting. So far, we've drawn a children's book/ logo, a chalkboard drawing (I drew the Kanye bear), and a retro pong game. There's something fun about solving puzzles for a grade, and even though the course is admittedly pretty challenging at times, it's so worth it.
One of the benefits of Dartmouth is that you get to talk to really, really cool people. And I don't just mean the programming the Hop does (which includes getting to talk to people like the one and only Trevor Noah, as well as Big Mouth creator Nick Kroll), but I mean even at the individual student organization level.
For reference, a bit of background first. The Hop is the Hopkins Performing Arts center. That's where the theatre, music practice rooms, and dance studios are. They're the ones with the big budgets, and are responsible for doing fall plays, symphony orchestra shows, so on and so forth.
Collis is responsible for more "fun" events. They're the ones who book the performers for Green Key, Fallapalooza, and the little events like ice skating on the Green here and there.
Both of these groups have had really big impacts on my Dartmouth experience. I doubt I would have gotten the chance to meet these people and listen to them talk otherwise. But, obviously, there's not much freedom when a programming board chooses who you get to talk to.
And that's where clubs come in. Dartmouth actually gives each club on campus a budget to hold whatever events they wish (within reason). And that's how I, as co-president of Dartmouth Comedy Network, was able to help bring professional writer Demi Adejuyigbe to campus.
Now, if you don't know who Demi is, let me tell you. He's simply amazing. His credits include Craig of the Creek, The Amber Ruffin Show, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and even my personal favorite TV show of all time, The Good Place. You can check out all his really cool work here. And, just through a cold email, we were able to host an open-to-campus workshop with him.
He was as amazing as you could imagine. For about three whole hours, sat down with us, answered all our many, many questions, and just shared his insights into comedy. Not only that, but he read our sketches that we pitched to him, and gave us super, super helpful feedback on them. Just picking apart his brain, and hearing his stories really showed us how high caliber real professional comedians are.
And the best part? It was all on Dartmouth's dime. Now, Demi was so amazing, that I don't think the money was a selling point for him on us. The enthusiasm he brought is something that shows how genuinely passionate he was about helping us. But, it was our way of saying thank you to him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to hang out with us. And that just goes to show you the kind of explorational freedom we have here at Dartmouth. This now would be the 4th workshop I've hosted, each speaker as amazing as the last. I've talked one-on-one with so many amazing people who have given me insights into worlds I've never even imagined, and my time here has been all the better for it.
Sometimes in my courses I find myself thinking, "Hey that seems familiar!" I think it speaks to Dartmouth professors' ability to cover a broad range of relevant topics and the interdisciplinary nature of the College.
