Batuhan Saridede

Keeping Up With New Year's Resolutions at Dartmouth!

It's New Year's Eve and I am on the couch, waiting for the clock to hit midnight so that I can celebrate a new beginning. For the first time in my life, I genuinely want to keep up with my resolutions this year. After all, so much has changed since last year! I got into my dream college, moved across the world from Istanbul to Hanover, and opened a clean slate for my future. Of course, I want to stick to my resolutions and invest in my well-being. This week, I want to share with you the ways in which I get to fulfill my resolutions at Dartmouth.

As an aspiring polyglot, I set learning a new language as the first of three bullet points on my resolutions list. Though I have credit from Turkish, German, and Hebrew, I wanted to embark on a new journey and start to learn French! I am taking French 1 as one of my three classes this term, and I have also applied to the Language Study Abroad program in Toulouse, France for next winter term. Two weeks into the class, I already feel like I have actively immersed myself in the language thanks to master classes and "drill." Drill is an integral part of learning a language at Dartmouth (see What is Drill? by blogger Robin Martinez for more about drill!). Essentially, our class meets for additional sessions to practice speaking French. I am excited to be taking a Dartmouth class to fulfill one of my resolutions!

The second item on my resolutions is exercising as part of my daily routine. I live in East Wheelock House, which is conveniently located right across from Alumni Gym. Taking advantage of Dartmouth's sports facilities, I began waking up earlier on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (yay afternoon classes!) to go to Alumni Gym and do light cardio! Moreover, as part of my physical education requirement at Dartmouth, I signed up for ice skating classes at Thompson Ring Arena. Though my dad played curling back in Turkey, I have never been on the ice before ice skating classes at Dartmouth. I can confidently say that the athletic resources offered at Dartmouth ease my journey of incorporating exercise into my daily routine.

Thompson Arena!

Last but certainly not least is reading a book every two weeks. It can be hard to allocate some "me time" in college, but I find reading a clever way of having time for myself while learning about fascinating phenomena. I brought the first few books with me from home, but I soon realized I read them a lot faster than I planned to. Thankfully, the Dartmouth library carries more books than I need. Just yesterday, I borrowed two new books, one about the pedagogy of oppression and another about postwar Europe politics. I am glad that I have access to such a wide array of books and media.

I am excited to see what the new year holds for me, and I feel empowered by Dartmouth's myriad of resources at my disposal!