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 have been at college for two terms now – meaning six months, more or less. Although it has been such a short time, I already feel like I have found my own routine and strategies to navigate the class schedule and all our assignments. For example, during end of winter term, I found myself in the same situation as in the Fall term: stressed for finals week.
Because at Dartmouth we use the quarter system – four terms of three months a year, from which students are expected to spend three in class – we end up having a finals week every three months. It can seem stressful at first, but after you get the hang of it, you will be grateful for this oddly good academic calendar.
I remember being genuinely scared of the idea of being tested on all the content we had covered in class for the past nine weeks. It seemed impossible for me to study all that because, since our terms are shorter, a whole lot of content has to be covered in a smaller amount of time. After making it through Fall term's finals week, I realized this assessment style was not only feasible, but also very good for my learning.
As I found out last term, something that really helps me study for finals is surrounding myself with friends. I know this does not work for everyone, but, for me, group study sessions are the best ones. As Winter term finals week came by, I employed this same strategy.
Studying with my friends!
I find myself really lucky to have so many friends who take the same courses as I do, because it makes it much easier to study together. Doing work together is the best study strategy for me, honestly.
As I wrap up this term, it also felt slightly different from Fall term due to my course choices. Now, I had to write two final essays and only one actual exam. Last term, because I took less writing-centered classes, I ended up having much more to study and remember for tests.
At Dartmouth, as you learn to navigate the quarter system and, overall, the academic calendar, things start to make sense. You will find your own pace to study and create your own routine and strategies. Although academics are indeed hard, remember that it is also both worthy and doable!
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!
