Hi, welcome to the blog! I'm a junior from a small suburb in South Carolina, just outside of Augusta, Georgia. On campus (and virtually), I'm involved in club water polo, the America Reads program, and the TAMID student consulting group. In the classroom, I'm super excited to pursue my interest in improving the world through public policy by studying the intersection of government and economics. I hope you enjoy following along as I explore all that Dartmouth has to offer!
Coming into Dartmouth, I knew I wanted to explore the creative writing department and this poetry workshop was a great way to do that! We studied well known political, love, and ekphrastic poems and wrote our own work every week. I really appreciated the small class size the classroom became a safe community for sharing my work, and I was able to get individualized critiques from Professor Francis.
Introductory writing classes are required for every Dartmouth student, but there are a wide range of topics, which makes finding an interesting course super interesting. My class focused on the American education system and gave me a ton of freedom to choose my paper topics.
Media and Politics was a writing intensive class which fulfilled my first year seminar requirement. While honing our writing skills, we studied the impact of news media, advertising, and messaging on campaigns and policy making. The class inspired me to continue exploring the government department, where I eventually declared my major.
Okay, well the title of this post is a bit of a trick because the truth is, I never picked a major to begin with and I still haven't officially declared one. At Dartmouth, we don't formally declare majors until the end of sophomore year. Nevertheless, I came into to Dartmouth intent on pursuing the pre-med track. I also knew I wanted to major in English or the social sciences, so a big draw to Dartmouth for me was the ability to do both fields at the same time.
Even now, the liberal arts focus of Dartmouth is really exciting to me, as I am someone who has never been interested in just one thing. However, entering my freshman spring, after taking six Dartmouth classes, I've decided to switch my focus away from the pre-med track and towards public policy, government, and economics. Of course, that decision isn't permanent, but for the moment, it's what feels right for me and my future. I was influenced heavily by the classes I've taken at Dartmouth, which include a couple of STEM courses, a few English classes, and some social science classes. The STEM classes were amazing and taught by awesome professors, but I was really surprised with how engaging the economics and government classes were. I went to a STEM high school, so I was not used to the caliber of Dartmouth humanities classes. Now that I've taken a few of these classes, I've decided to take a break from the pre-med track and explore the world from a new perspective, one taught by Dartmouth's government and economics departments.
The advising system available at Dartmouth also helped me consider my options and reflect on my experiences. My advising network has included conversations with my First Year Dean, a pre-med advisor, and a few more informal advisors, including professors and upperclassmen. In my experience, the Dartmouth advising system is super focused on self-reflection. Rather than asserting any set agendas or plans, all of my advisors have asked me questions and used my answers to shape their guidance. The conversations I had helped me realize that part of the beauty of Dartmouth is evolving throughout my time here.
This term, I decided to build on my already-existing interest in photography and take Photo I: The Intentional Photography. Here's a selection of my works!
With the beginning of Week 5 of spring term already upon us comes an outline of my schedule for the term. From trying new activities to settling into courses and club positions, this is what I've been up to during my most beloved term!
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!
