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 remember when I got into college. It was all fun for the first weeks. I could not stop celebrating – and you can read about my experience opening the decision letter here. But, the truth is that, after this first moment of ecstasy, I did not know what to do any more. I remember thinking classes were boring, the senioritis hitting, and the anxiety that came along with the ED decision. I wanted to pick classes, know more about my dorm options, make new friends, and figure out my D-Plan already. This is a run-down of what I did to get over this anxiety and animation, which I share in hopes of making some of you out there feel better :)
View of the Choates, my dorm!
Personally, it took a long time for the ecstasy of getting into my dream school to go away. I caught myself daydreaming about courses, majors, minors, professors, dorms, and all that every day. But, as one does, I worried that I was living in the future, and not enjoying the incredible time that senior year is. I got into college in mid-December but as an International Baccalaureate alum, I still had to study for my final exams in May. Not only that, but – as my acceptance letter highlighted at the time – I had to keep up with my level of performance in academic, but also extracurriculars and all other factors considered in the application process. To keep my offer, I could not fall behind.
What I found, however, is that doing so could be more pleasing than I thought. Once I got into college and knew that I would never need to open Common App again, or worry about writing essays, I realised I could focus much more of my time on the things that brought me joy. Of course, I did not quit my study routine, but I allowed myself to dedicate myself to my dance club and my goal of learning languages – all things I had written about on my application. Now, I had the time to put some extra energy into these things and enjoy them without the pressure of achieving a performance level that would get me into college. This was great as it allowed me to engage so much more that I would leave a mark on these communities I was a part of. For example, in dedicating more time to dancing, I took the role of choreographing a couple dances; and, in learning languages, I had the time to practice more often and develop better conversation skills.
Applying Early Decision was, with no doubts, the best choice I made. Although stressful, I found myself to be truly lucky when I saw all my friends worrying about applications for another two months. Thus, my tip is to enjoy this extra time you have. Make the most of your opportunities, and be sure to enjoy every moment of your senior year.
Learn about the different programs Dartmouth offers prospective students to explore campus life, learn about Dartmouth, and enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to Hanover!
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!
