Howdy, y'all! I'm Alex, a queer and trans student from Tennessee. This year I'm involved with a lot: I'm serving as the Production Manager for the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals, acting as Social Chair for Amarna, rushing Phi Tau, giving tours on campus, exploring the offerings of the Dartmouth Outing Club, joining Farm Club, getting more involved with the O-Farm and sustainability on campus, and generally enjoying my second year here at Dartmouth!
As a theater-kid-turned-English-major who already loved Shakespeare before taking this class, highlighting this as my favorite class of the term is a no-brainer. This class is completely accessible to anyone who is has never read Shakespeare while still being an engaging class for seasoned Shakespeare enthusiast. Class time is mostly devoted to discussion of the texts, and I feel like I came out of the class with a strengthened ability to analyze the themes present in Shakespeare's works as well as a better comprehension of the nuances of language used in the plays.
Before this class, my experience on the technical side of theater was severely limited. I've been acting onstage for a decade, and even though I knew that productions would be impossible without what goes on behind the scenes, actually learning how to DO what goes on behind the scenes was another experience entirely. THEA 40 is an incredibly fun and informative class, and I can confidently say I have a much more comprehensive understanding of what it takes to make a show come together. And next term, I'll have to opportunity to apply my new knowledge and skills as Production Manager for the Rude Mechanicals, Dartmouth's student-run Shakespeare company! I can't wait!
In this class we read stage plays through various lenses. These lenses comprised a general overview of the different readings of a play necessary in order to get it from script to stage: reading as actors, writers, directors, designers, dramaturgs, etc. I had an amazing time I feel my foundation of theater knowledge has been enhanced by what I learned in this class! I've been able to apply this knowledge as I continue to read and write plays in my spare time.
I took this class to fulfill one of my distributive requirements, but it ended up being my favorite class this term. I found the readings fascinating, the lectures engaging, and the group work super enjoyable (we were assigned to stream video games a couple hours per week!). Despite the large class size (100+ students) the lectures remained engaging and the professor made sure to hold weekly office hours to get to know as many of the students as possible; he even brought donuts sometimes! Overall, if this class were a video game, I’d hit replay as soon as the credits rolled.
What happens when Dartmouth terms end? Not all students make the trek home. Some adventurous groups and individuals choose to embark on thrilling journeys in the break between terms.
And over spring break, I was one of them.
(I am now going to drop the epic-adventure-narration I was initially going for… how does Gandalf do it?)
Over spring break, I went on an 'Energy Immersion Trip' sponsored by the Dartmouth Sustainability Office and Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society. Two of these 'Energy Immersion' trips run each year: one over winter break (aka "winterim") called the 'Gulf Coast Energy Immersion Trip,' and the one I went on over spring break was the 'Appalachian Energy Immersion Trip.'
So, what was this trip all about? A group of nine students – all Dartmouth undergraduates from every year (freshman through senior, '26-'23), and a variety of majors – and three staff leaders spent ten days in Appalachia (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, then two days at the end in Washington, D.C.) doing a deep dive into the history of the coal industry and its impacts on the environment, politics, economy, people, and culture of the region. We met with different stakeholders in the region and were able to hear a multitude of perspectives.
Below, should you be inclined, you can read about some of the highlights of my trip!
Before the Trip: Ed Sessions and Energy Currents
Before the trip, our group met once a week every Tuesday evening of winter term to eat yummy food, get to know each other, and learn as much background information about the coal industry in the Appalachian region as we could. These meetings were informal but informative and prepared us with a solid knowledge base for our trip.
In addition to these sessions, my friend Arden (who also went on the trip) and I attended the Energy Currents lecture series organized by the Irving Institute. This was not required for our trip group, but we decided to attend because we were generally curious and because the topics of the lectures were relevant to our trip. The series is described on the website linked above as "an open conversation space to discuss and analyze current energy and climate news." It was a great experience, super engaging and informative, and I was able to make a few new friends as well!
The Trip Basics
Financial Aid
My financial aid traveled with me on this trip, so I was able to go for completely free. Even if I had to pay the trip fee, it would've been a small amount considering it included 10 days of lodging, eating, driving, and other scheduled events.
Food
We had hotel breakfasts, fun picnic lunches, silly snacks, and lots of fun dinners eating out at restaurants. We generally ate as a group during meals and got to know each other better, discuss our days, make memories, and develop inside jokes. Overall, food was plentiful and entirely included.
Lodging
For most nights we stayed in hotels, two students per room, and so we each got our own bed. We had the option to use the hotel pools, fitness centers, and even once to do laundry. Two additional nights were spent staying as a group in a cabin owned by one of our stakeholders. Even though our hotel nights were luxurious in comparison, we were able to have great conversations and grow closer as a group on those nights.
Driving
This trip included a lot of driving hours, averaging about 3 or 4 hours in the vehicles per day. But they passed quickly thanks to lively conversations, well-curated road trip playlists, and a handful of naps.
Downtimes
Though we packed an incredible amount of stops into our trip, it wasn't all just go, go, go – our trip leaders did a great job of scheduling downtime for our group so that we had time to unwind and relax.
Debriefs
Every night we had 'debrief sessions,' where we would discuss our visits. These sessions were led by our staff and student leaders who would introduce a series of guiding questions to structure our conversations. We'd explore our thoughts and impressions, identify recurring themes from our trip, and ask how our perspectives may have shifted— and just talk through anything else that might come up. It was a great routine that helped us all to process and think deeper about what we'd learned that day.
My Favorite Visits… will be featured in an upcoming post! Stay tuned!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
