Ei! My name is Antônio Jorge Medeiros Batista Silva (yes—four last names!) and I'm a '25 from Governador Valadares, Brazil. My journey to Dartmouth has crossed two continents, three countries, and over 10 schools—and I'm a strong believer that everyone's path to the Big Green was unique in a way. At Dartmouth, I study Linguistics, Native American & Indigenous Studies, and Spanish. I am passionate about social justice, language-learning, and the oxford comma!
This class is an introduction to the Spanish minor and major courses and, although I did not expect to particularly like it, it not only turned out to be my favourite but it made me start considering a degree in the department!
In this class, we analysed different productions of Latinx American theatre. Prof. Analola Santana was probably the best person I met this year at Dartmouth. Being her student was a very important experience as I try to navigate my potential majors and minors.
In this class, I was able to carve time out of my busy Dartmouth schedule to study and learn my Indigenous language: Krenak. With the help of Prof. Gokke, all students were encouraged to develop a final project that spoke to their community's needs for language learning and revitalisation. It was an extremely important class for me, not only academically, but also for my personal healing process.
I had the honour of spending my sophomore fall in Madrid, taking part in the Spanish FSP. There, Prof. Martín was not only a great professor, responsible for my favourite lecture of the program, but also an incredible company throughout our classes and in-country trips. Great way to wrap up my Spanish minor, honestly!
This was my second class in the NAIS department, and thus it took me one step closer to wrapping up my major. Nonetheless, it was Prof. Powell's genuine charisma and caring personality that made it my favourite of the term!
This course was definitely life changing! Prof. Pochedley, a visiting post-doc of the Potawatomi nation did a great job at keeping the students engaged while teaching us to see the land we inhabit as a source of knowledge and spirituality. In a majority Indigenous classroom, we got to develop individual projects related to our traditional homelands, learning to navigate the world through Native world lenses.
Prof. Gómez is one of those profs I've always wanted to take a class with. His work with the Horror genre in Modern Spanish literatures amazes me, and it was an honour to guide in-class discussions and develop my own research on the themes of science, testimony, and fear.
LING54 is an umbrella course: the actual content of the course may vary each year, but it is the common letter-number code to refer to the course taught abroad by your accompanying Dartmouth Linguistics professor. In this year's Linguistics Foreign Study Program (FSP), LING54 was a 'Language Documentation' class, wonderfully taught by Prof. David Peterson.
Before this class, I had no idea what visual and cultural studies actually encompassed. Every chat with Prof. Broner opened my eyes to a different analysis or method for interpreting literature, and for that, I feel truly lucky! We got to discuss films made by Indigenous women from all over Latin America, exposing the class to distinct ways of interacting with and stewarding the environment.
I can name you thousands of reasons why I decided to come to Dartmouth – from the natural landscape to the academic rigour, this is exactly the college I dreamt about as a high school student. As a new wave of students finds out their admission results and stress over the indecision and the questioning of where they would fit better, I revisited my "Why Dartmouth" essay and thought of sharing what brought me here.
As a prospective Linguistics major, a strong department with renowned professors was very important to me. At Dartmouth, Linguistics has extremely interesting courses and research projects that, so far, I have been enjoying to the fullest. Currently, I am taking my second class in the department, but have had the chance to meet many other professors and major students who share this passion for the field. In Experimental Phonetics (LING 20), I have been doing research on minority languages spoken on our campus – getting to know peers who have the most diverse mother tongues and learning to record and transcribe these speeches.
Being part Indigenous, something I carry very close to my heart is the revitalisation of our ancestral language. Before applying here, I already knew some big names in the department due to their research and publications. Prof. Whaley and Prof. Stanford are experts in the field, and I always find myself in awe when I remember I used to read their papers even before becoming their student.
Another thing I took into consideration when choosing Dartmouth as my new home was the large communities I would be able to take part in. Being Indigenous, it meant the world to me when I arrived and was welcomed by the Native community. Similarly, the Dartmouth Brazilian Society – to which I was recently elected a treasurer! – has been a kind of home away from home.
Some friends and I!
Along with an incredible financial aid package, the strong sense of community and the academic liberty and quality were the biggest factors in my coming here. However, as I stated in my essay, another strong reason for me to choose Dartmouth was simply that… "I look good in green!
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
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!
