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.
This fall semester I am engaging in the 12 College Exchange opportunity available to all Dartmouth students through the Guarini Institute for International Study by enjoying a semester at Wellesley College! Wellesley offers a very unique experience from the Dartmouth campus since it is a women's college tucked just 30 minutes away from Boston in the town of Wellesley which is somewhat similar to the town of Hanover. For those of you who have been following my journey or read some other blogs of mine, you might know that I also studied abroad through Guarini for the French Language Study Abroad in Toulouse, France just this past winter!
All of the Twelve College Exchange colleges (including Amherst College, Bowdoin College, Connecticut College, Mount Holyoke College, Eugene O'Neill National Theater Institute, Smith College, Trinity College, Vassar College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Williams-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program) except Dartmouth operate on a semester schedule, so Dartmouth students wishing to participate on the exchange typically do so during the fall semester when the academic calendars of the Twelve College partner schools most closely align with the Dartmouth fall term.
Since the Spring semester at Twelve College schools operates during Dartmouth's winter and spring terms, a Spring semester exchange requires students to be enrolled for the Dartmouth winter term and take a leave term for spring. A great aspect about the exchange is that Dartmouth students are eligible to earn transfer credit for up to four courses during the semester which is exactly what I'm doing. I've chosen to take Organic Chemistry I, Intro to Psychology, and Physics 1: Fundamentals of Mechanics which fulfill some of the pre-med requirements. I am also taking an Advanced French class for my French minor called "Itinerant Tales: Literary Voyages and Voyagers in the Global Nineteenth Century."
The gorgeous classroom where I learn French!
One especially great aspect for me (since I'm a city girl at heart) is that I'm now just a short bus ride away from one of the most exciting cultural and academic hubs in the world–Boston and Cambridge! There is a bus that runs every day of the week into the city since there is a Wellesley-Massachusetts Institute of Technology exchange program that many students I've met take advantage of. Just the other day, I was chatting with a sophomore on the bus who was heading to a Computer Science class at MIT and would return later in the afternoon for her Psychology class at Wellesley. I was amazed by this combination and the diversity in her daily reality. If I would change anything about my class schedule I would have probably registered for an MIT course but I also really wanted to soak in the unique Wellesley experience with just the few months that I get to be here. I also knew that my Orgo and Physics labs would probably restrict the time I would need to dedicate to commuting to the MIT campus. There are also shuttle buses to the nearby Olin College of Engineering and Babson College of Business where students can cross-register.
I rode the Wellesley Locomotion bus to go explore MIT!
Coming back to Wellesley's campus, I have been finding it so charming with character full of the "Dark Academia" aesthetic. It's mostly-woman environment has been very empowering and new for me, especially since I never went to an all-girls school. I look forward to sharing more about the many diverse aspects of Wellesley College as I learn them and about my day-to-day campus experience. I encourage you to follow along as I share my exchange chronicles this Fall term with you all!
Academics can be challenging at Dartmouth. But there are lots of groups across campus here to support you through your academic journey. Read on for my experience asking for help and a few organizations that might be helpful to you!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
