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.
During sophomore year, I applied to be a Global Health Fellow (GHF) through the John Sloan Dickey Center For International Understanding, and I was accepted in the 2024-2025 cohort! The Global Health Fellows program brings together students from across Dartmouth (including undergraduate, graduate, and medical students) in an ongoing exploration of global health issues.
"As a Global Health Fellow, you will engage a diverse community of faculty, students, and global health practitioners around the world to discuss how individuals, groups, and institutions can best address the complex global challenges around health and wellness, human rights, health security, planetary health, health diplomacy and other topics. Issues of health disparities and structural inequities in global health systems are central to all of these discussions."
Some examples of events in the fellowship are Global Health retreats (which I will be sharing about today); speaker series and discussions; methods workshops and simulations; experiential education and opportunities. The fellowship enables us to build our skills and knowledge by engaging with global health leaders, participating in skills sessions and learning from each other.
Fellows can engage in a diversity of methods workshops and practical simulations, ranging from public health data visualization to pandemic response strategies. These workshops and simulations bring together students and faculty to engage in multidisciplinary learning and problem solving. As fellows, we get to enjoy access to a wide range of resources as they pursue experiential education and service opportunities, internships, independent research projects, and other endeavors related to global health. The GHF program helps to connect fellows with potential opportunities and advice and support fellows in the pursuit of internships and other programs.
Global Health Fellow Intern, Abby Kambhampaty '25 addresses the cohort.
During the retreat, I was able to meet my other cohort members for the first time as we met at the Dartmouth Ski Lodge for a few hours on a Tuesday evening. After checking in, we all went to assigned tables that were each honoring a specific global health leader. We read their bios and socialized over some delicious catered dinner. After some introductions around the whole room (that was pretty packed), we went outside before sunset to enjoy the beautiful mountainous setting as we played games to get to know each other.
On our way out to enjoy the Ski lodge's view!
After returning inside, Senior Associate Director Dawn Carey kicked off the retreat by giving us a warm welcome before we got into our main activity–Case Studies! We walked through several case studies concerning global health issues that were all diverse, nuanced and required great care in addressing. We were given time to brainstorm how we would go about each situation in our table groups then were able to share with the entire cohort. This led to insightful discussion about how responses to global health issues differ taking into account a country's customs, an affected person's age and other factors.
We all had so many different and fruitful insights to share!
I am really looking forward to participating in the future Global Health Fellow events! I can already envision how this amazing opportunity will enable me to grow my passions in the field of global health and become more of a global citizen.
This fall, Dartmouth provided me with incredible opportunities to get involved in politics. I registered as a New Hampshire voter, joined civic organizations, canvassed, and more! Read on to follow my journey leading up to Election Day!
Some of my rising senior friends from New York have been in contact with me since graduation, and I've compiled a list of FAQs that might help you better understand life at Dartmouth!
Dartmouth changed my life. A large part of that change comes from the support I have received from professors. Learn more here about some mentor-mentee relationships I have made!
