Welcome to my blog! My name is Ariana and I grew up in the DC metro area. In no time at all, Dartmouth has become my home away from home. When I'm not participating in programs at the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship or DALI Lab, you can find me reading voraciously or indulging my kombucha obsession. I hope my blog can give you a vision of the abundant opportunities available to Dartmouth students!
Academic Program
Cognitive Science Major + Human-Centered Design Minor
This course was a whirlwind introduction to the field of cognitive science, which is the interdisciplinary study of the mind as an information processor. This field incorporates psychology, computer science, neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. I loved how each lecture covered something new, with topics ranging from neurological disorders and optical illusions to language learning, moral decision-making, and AI. The course was fast-paced, yet fun and laidback. I came away knowing much more about what makes people tick, and my experience inspired me to major in cognitive science!
What is justice? How do we live well? This course is about the big questions humans have wrestled with since the founding of political society. Reading Plato made me consider philosophy as the only path to stable happiness. Aristotle made me ponder the belief that the purpose of law is to uphold moral virtue. Machiavelli’s “The Prince” felt relevant to today’s politics, hundreds of years after he wrote it. Professor Clarke’s engaging lectures and sense of humor cemented this course as my solid favorite this term. Whether you want to take Political Ideas out of curiosity or to satisfy a Government major requirement, I highly recommend her as a professor!
At its core, good design is about effective communication. This course taught me just that, introducing me to essential design fundamentals such as Gestalt principles, hierarchy, typography, shape language, and color symbolism. I also gained hands-on, resume-building experience with Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, finishing the course with my own portfolio. Professor Mahoney was passionate and inspiring, going well beyond mere instruction in classic design platforms and fostering my love for making beautiful things for others. Paired with ENGS 12: Design Thinking in the same term, this course made me excited to continue pursuing the Human-Centered Design minor!
I'm a year older than most students in my class. That's right, I was a 19-year-old first-year. Despite my friends jokingly calling me old, I remain a stalwart advocate of the gap year.
A gap year goes by many names—leave term, sabbatical, bridge year, to name a few—and it's becoming an increasingly common and accepted occurrence for high school graduates before they enter college for another four years of the grind.
Young adulthood is meant to be a period of self-discovery. It's a time to figure out who you are and what you want in life—no, what you reallywant. If you're anything like me, you might also reach the end of high school feeling jaded and in need of a longer break than summer can provide. So, after I received my acceptance to Dartmouth in the spring of 2024, I decided to give myself that break. I deferred my enrollment for one year, and both my family and the admissions office were supportive.
Taking a gap year was one of the best life choices I've made. Between working shifts at a children's swim school, I had plenty of time for academic and self-growth. I taught myself about personal finance, created a Roth IRA, and started investing. I read books voraciously—totalling about 80 in 15 months—and rediscovered my love for science fiction. I journaled frequently and made plans and set goals for my first year in college. I visited friends and family in the northern U.S., Austria, and China, going sightseeing and making incredible memories.
The glow of golden hour (and pride) after hiking up a steep trail in the Alps! (Peep the Dartmouth bag from my Dimensions experience :)
Nine years since I'd last visited China, my mom and I traveled to her hometown in Hunan and reunited with her friends and extended family!
Looking back, the way I'd describe my gap year is "a gift of time." As admissions to top colleges become increasingly competitive, it can be easy to lose sight of yourself and measure your worth primarily through academic and extracurricular achievements. Starting college is such an exciting and significant life milestone, but I realized that without time for meaningful self-reflection, I risked carrying negative habits and pressures into the next chapter of my life.
During my gap year, I learned to invest my energy in the things that truly matter over the long arc of a lifetime: my personal relationships, my sense of self, my independence, and my ability to think critically about the world around me. I rediscovered the spark of curiosity and childlike joy that I'd been missing. And when I entered Dartmouth in the fall of 2025, I carried with me a powerful desire to take full advantage of the opportunities provided to me. So far, that intrinsic motivation has remained strong, and I intend to keep it that way!
In short, I'd like to dispel some possible misconceptions about taking a gap year:
"I'll be behind my peers." Not so! One year is but a small portion of the grand scheme of your life, and many of my classmates and peers actually told me they wished they'd taken gap years before jumping straight into college. If anything, you'll be coming into college moreprepared after a reset and ready to tackle rigorous academics.
"I'll be bored and won't have anything to do."Again, not true. You can work, volunteer, travel, take classes at a local community college, pursue hobbies and passion projects, learn a new skill or a new language, etc. Dartmouth is very supportive of students taking gap years and even has a whole page on its website with relevant information.
"All my friends will be in college, and I'll be lonely without them." This doesn't have to be the case! You can still visit friends who are attending college close by, and meet new people through various engagements that can fulfill some of that need for social connection.
Of course, taking a gap year isn't what's best for everyone. But it's an option that's at least worth considering.
As a bonus, here's a non-exhaustive list of books I enjoyed reading during my gap year, in no particular order:
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
What If We Get It Right?by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
A Short History of Nearly Everythingby Bill Bryson
I wrote my "Why Dartmouth?" essay a little under two years ago, and I've had a year in-between to fully experience Dartmouth: how I've grown, changed, and how Dartmouth has been a part of all of it.
One of the first Dartmouth terms you'll hear is the "D-Plan." It might sound confusing at first, but don't worry—read on to learn what it is and how it works!
Three years ago today, I received an email that would shape my entire Dartmouth experience in a way I never could have predicted. It's funny to think that it all started because I was a prospective student obsessively reading this very blog.
I've been blogging for almost two years now, and it's become one of my favorite extracurriculars on campus. Read on to hear why I've enjoyed it so much.
