Hey! I'm excited to welcome you to my blog page! I'm Andrea Agola, a '26 born in Kenya and raised just outside of D.C. As the eldest child of three, I'm the first to go off to college! I'm glad Dartmouth will enable me to explore both the sciences and humanities. Don't even get me started on the numerous extracurriculars that pique my interest, like the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact, research projects and dance groups. Follow along as I navigate this unique college experience!
Academic Program
Sociology major, International Studies Minor, Pre-Med
Favorite Thing Right Now
Studying abroad on the French LSA+ in Toulouse, France!
When I began my first term at Dartmouth, I knew I wanted to explore the French language and culture more after having been a French music and film fan for as long as I can remember. This was an accelerated course that covered French 1 and 2 in one term and offered an exciting and fast-paced atmosphere. The small nature of our class allowed us all to have more speaking time in class from partner activities to performing creative skits. One of the best assignments was a scavenger hunt! I was also able to learn and make a presentation about francophone countries. This class really prompted me to apply for the ‘24 Winter–Toulouse, France Study Abroad which I got accepted into!
This course considers the discipline and political happenings of Black Feminist Thought by highlighting interlocking issues related to gender, sexuality, race, and economics. The professor was amazing! I was always genuinely excited to do her assigned readings/viewings and remember being sad when she canceled class one day (imagine!). I reveled in the thought-provoking, warm, restorative (the list goes on & on) ambience that she fostered. I even took advantage of a cool opportunity that Dartmouth offers, the “Take a Faculty Member out To Lunch” program at Pine Restaurant across from campus. I enjoyed the lovely conversation we had over delicious food. Her class was such a great source of empowerment!
This course examines the epidemiology and social impact of past and present infectious disease epidemics. It was a great and insightful class to take for the Global Health Minor! I had the chance of hearing from many influential guest lecturers like the Former Minister of Health of Rwanda and a key member of the U.S Covid Task Force.
This course explores causes and patterns of global poverty and links this with the urgent need for care and care ethics in our lives and in society broadly. Not only did the class feel like such a caring environment but it was especially interesting because it had a Social Impact Practicum (SIP) component. A SIP is a project-based experiential learning opportunity connecting undergraduate courses at Dartmouth with community needs identified by nonprofit organizations. In other words, a SIP is a real-world project with real-world impact. My SIP was my care work as a UGA within Dartmouth's Residential Life.
My friends and I decided to have a fun and relaxing Saturday at Hampton Beach! All five of us had never visited the beach that is just two hours away from Dartmouth's campus so it was exciting when our plans made it out of the groupchat! I rented a zipcar which is a rental car service that we have on campus which is great for people that don't have a car with them who want to take trips to locations that the Advanced Transit and Campus Connector buses don't go to. Zipcars can also be great for trips to Lebanon where stores like Target and Walmart are when you want to go on your own timing instead of the buses'. There are a few zipcars spread out across campus that you can notice from their green parking sign. So at around 8:30 am, four of us went to pick up the car from the parking lot where it was stationed. We then drove to the Summit off-campus apartments to pick up our other friend before embarking on the journey to the beach.
As I drove us, we played music and got to catch up on how our term's had been so far. Two of my friends are currently in the same economics class, one is not taking class but doing research instead, and the other friend is taking two physical education classes along with her course load and one starts early at 6:00 am! One friend also shared about using a Zipcar to visit a nearby farm the weekend before where she was able to get some delicious blueberries. I promise this blog post isn't sponsored by Zipcar, lol! Finally, after a bit of a roadtrip across New Hampshire, we arrived in the Hampton Beach area and began hunting for parking. Some advice, if you ever decide to go, just drive for a bit through the town to find parking since the first few lots are more expensive at around $60 for the full day. Instead, we pulled into a lot where a lady was waving a sign for $30 full day parking.
We were not ready for that ice water!
At this point we were all super hungry so we walked to a nearby cafe. It was nicely decorated with the full beach vibe and we all ordered delicious bagel sandwiches and coffee to wake us up from an early start to our day so that we could fully appreciate the beach. After eating we walked to the beachfront where we were able to find a good spot in the sand to lay all of our blankets together. It was so nice to just stretch out, relax and enjoy being in the beach environment with everyone else around us. It was also nice to see kids running around and screaming (not too loudly) at big waves since we don't really get to see young kids around campus.
This day made me so happy!
After a while, we gathered some courage to go feel the water that we guessed would be cold. And how right we were! The water was freezing!! I think it was the coldest ocean water I had ever felt which would make sense was a beach farther North than those I usually go to. When the water hit our feet we all screamed and decided to run back to our refuge in the sand. After another round of lounging, some of us decided to go sightseeing. We walked around the boardwalk and peeked into some of the stores. I was eyeing a really gorgeous and colorful patchwork skirt for a while so I decided to buy it. As we continued our walk, we ran into a man with a big pet snake. He was letting people pet and hold it around their necks! Two of my friends were brave souls that decided to let the man wrap the snake around their necks. The whole thing was hilarious as I snapped pics of them as they started regretting their decision yet still pushed through their fear. We finally returned back to our stuff and spent some more time by the beach and actually going into the water a bit more. We ended our time in Hampton Beach at a restaurant for dinner which satisfied my fish and chips craving. We then drove back to Dartmouth and arrived at around 11:00 pm.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
Homecoming—a time when current students and alumni gather to relive cherished memories and exhibit large amounts of school spirit. Find out how I spent my second Homecoming Weekend at Dartmouth!
