Hello, and welcome to my neck of the woods! My name is Brendilou Armstrong, and I am a '26 hailing from the cornfields and grassy plains of Western Nebraska. This year, I plan to involve myself in The Dartmouth, WebDCR (Dartmouth College Radio), and the Spilled Ink Poetry Club. I couldn't be more excited to set out on this expedition through college alongside all of you. Thanks for visiting my page!
Academic Program
English/Creative Writing
Favorite Thing Right Now
Binding my own journals at Dartmouth's Book Arts Workshop
If you are interested in Victorian literature in any capacity, this is the class for you! It is a course taught by the WGSS (Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) department and combines historical and political aspects into a literary seminar. The material is compelling and allows you to view female authors, including Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, and Elizabeth Gaskell, in a different perspective knowing the societal context of the time period and themes in their most popular works.
If poetic language and artistic writing styles are your forte, this is the perfect class for you! Taught by the English/Creative Writing department, Introduction to Poetry is an incredible foundation to storytelling, introducing students to poetry styles from prose to ekphrastic and written to slam. The approach to teaching the course revolved around the strategies of Robert Frost, where the Poetry Room in Sanborn Library held our class, and students' chairs were arranged in a circle rather than in rows of desks. CRWT 12 is one of the most unique and fascinating classes I have taken thus far, and as a result, has become my favorite class I have taken on campus.
Niche classes and concentrations define a Dartmouth education, and before this term, I never intended on taking an Asian art history course, let alone one with such a defined focus. Taught through both the Department of Art History and the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages by Columbia University guest lecturer Seher Agarwala, this course contextualizes sacred architectural structures of the Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic faiths. I left this course with a newfound interest in the artistic practices of East Asian cultures and an appreciation for their diverse historical backgrounds and religions.
Dartmouth On-Air: Big Green Opportunities in Radio Broadcasting
After binging the Pitch Perfect trilogy and desperately wanting a DJ job or extracurricular position like Anna Kendrick's Beca character, Dartmouth's freeform radio station seemed to be the perfect choice for a new club to join this year.
With music being a prominent part of my life for its entirety, I had always wanted to pursue it in ways beyond just orchestral performance. After attending an interest meeting last term about the plethora of departments, radio shows, and podcasts available to contribute to at Dartmouth College Radio (WebDCR), I felt drawn to become a DJ of my own show: Daydream Sound Machine! Every Thursday night at 6 pm eastern time, my Spotify playlists are streamed on-air, presenting a different genre of music to listeners, ranging from indie to rap, folk to EDM.
The cover of my radio show!
The beauty of Dartmouth College Radio is its focus on the interests of music-listeners, tech-lovers, and everyone in between. Although hosting a live radio show or recorded podcast is one of the more popular options for students to involve themselves in, students are also able to delve into sectors of WebDCR management through departments like Live Events, Marketing, Art, Music, and Tech, to name a few. Personally, I have decided to involve myself in WebDCR's Music Department, where I am learning how to collect and curate the songs that get streamed on the WebDCR automated station (i.e. what plays when there is not a student radio show or podcast scheduled during a time slot).
For me, WebDCR has served as a form of escapism, where I can stream the songs that define my music taste to listeners across the country. The studio (located on the third floor of Robinson Hall) acts as a space for me to express myself in ways beyond the world of academia, and I find myself ecstatic for Thursday evenings every week.
If you're an incoming first year or prospective student looking for a niche activity to express your creative side, Dartmouth College Radio will be your new favorite extracurricular in the same way that it is mine!
Dartmouth's most anticipated spring tradition is over, prompting an influx of Green Key posts from Dartmouth students online (including this one from myself)! Join me as I reflect on the most memorable parts of this weekend!
Eastern European Easter (loads of E's, I know), a mock wedding with the Dartmouth African Student Association, and of course, Green Key! What a busy week!
Green Key: A quintessential Dartmouth tradition along with Homecoming and Winter Carnival—and the one remaining tradition I had yet to experience as a freshman. Here are my impressions of my first Green Key weekend!
Green Key Weekend in Berlin! My experience at Karneval der Kulteren was amazing, a festival of cultures that lasts four days. It is very different from Green Key at Dartmouth, and it proved to be a great experience!
With Green Key quickly approaching, student band Read Receipts prepares to perform as the opening act before musicians Young M.A. and Shaggy take the stage. Here's what guitarist Jackson Yassin '26 had to say about this surreal opportunity!
