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 am interested in studying Linguistics, Native American & Indigenous Studies, and Spanish. I am really passionate about social justice, learning languages, 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.
It is obvious that not everything about college is perfect. Not all days are happy days, and not all classes are nice classes. Of course, coming to Dartmouth has been one of the most rewarding things I've done. Yet I often find myself struggling. But, when I realised my mental health was being impacted in ways I could not handle by myself, I was given unconditional support by the school.
Wellness consultations can be accessed by all students, and counsellor appointments can be made online through DartHub – our student platform. Students may also find the support they need in the Mental Health Union's peer support program, where other students are trained to help and respond adequately to your mental health concerns. In addition, Dartmouth has a 24/7 call-in service for mental health related emergencies.
Personally, therapy is something that has helped me immensely. But, instead of reaching out for support through the college, I have been seeing my therapist from home over Zoom every week. For me, it makes a huge difference to be able to explain my feelings and emotions in Portuguese. However, as I recently found out, there are not only Brazilian counsellors available through the college, but also of many other nationalities and fluent in many other languages. Thus – talking from the perspective of an international student – I know how big of a difference it makes to be able to seek help in the language you are the most comfortable with.
Furthermore, if it turns out that you need more help than what therapy can get you, there are many more resources available at Dartmouth. Weekly, the Student Wellness Center offers Yoga sessions and wellness check-ins. If you find yourself in the need of medical assistance, there is also a team of psychiatrists that you can access through Dicks House – the campus' health centre, where students can see doctors, get vaccines, do blood tests, and get prescribed medicine. As all international students at Dartmouth are included in the Dartmouth General Health Insurance, most of the expenses related to mental health treatment are covered. My experience seeking medical help has been great so far, specially considering how easily accessible these services were.
At Dartmouth, there is an undergraduate requirement for language; after all, it is the liberal arts! Fulfilling this requirement looks different for various people and I will focus on my experience.
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
