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 Dartmouth's Wind Ensemble, Women in Computer Science, and the Dartmouth QuestBridge Network (as I am an FGLI student who matched to the College on the Hill last December!). I couldn't be more excited to set out on this expedition through college alongside all of you. Thanks for visiting my page!
Before entering my freshman year of college, looking up YouTube videos documenting "A Day in the Life" of an undergraduate student became a part of my weekly routine, as strange as it may sound. But, doing so prepared me for what to expect after stepping onto campus as a newly-established college student, whether that be through seeing how classes are set up or how extracurricular activities compare to those I had become used to in high school. So, to prepare all of you, prospective '27s and beyond, for what exactly to expect as an undergraduate student here at the College on the Hill, I present to you my version of a "Day in the Life" YouTube video… blog style. Follow me on a fall day in my life: Monday edition!
I started the day by waking up at 7 am to get ready for my Japanese 1 drill (an extra class that "drills" students involved in any language on campus on their pronunciation and grammar) at 7:45 am. The walk from my dorm to Anonymous Hall, where both drill and Japanese 1 are held for this year's fall term, is only around five minutes long and the scenery around me is gorgeous, making up for my early morning starts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each time I leave my dorm, the foliage seems to become brighter and more vibrant, warranting a picture of a day of the trees in front of the United Church of Christ. Today was a particularly crisp, foggy morning, making the reds and oranges of the leaves stand out more than usual.
Bright autumn leaves contrasting the fog around the United Church of Christ
Once Japanese 1 ended, I made my way to the Orozco Mural Room in the basement of Baker-Berry Library to study with a few friends before my 11:35 am Introduction to Programming and Computation (COSC 1) class. Because of its isolation from the more active parts of Baker, the Mural Room is extremely quiet and, for that reason, one of my favorite spots to study on campus!
Studying my Japanese in the Mural Room!
After about an hour and a half of studying, I walked to Moore Hall and into Filene Auditorium, where COSC 1, one of the larger classes taught on campus, is held. There, the Python programming language is all that fills my brain as I am introduced to the concepts of functions and lists.
A typical COSC 1 lecture about lists and functions
Usually in my schedule, I go directly to Kemeny Hall for my 19th Century British Women Writers class, but today it was canceled. Instead, I walked to the Class of 1953 Commons (otherwise known as "foco" for "food court") to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to my dorm to rest before Wind Ensemble rehearsal at 5:30 pm.
Wind Ensemble rehearsal at the Hopkins Center for the Arts (the Hop for short) is something that I look forward to every Monday and Wednesday. Although practices are two hours long, I have grown to love the community the Wind Ensemble has introduced me to, and the repertoire we are preparing for our fall concert (and for an upcoming spring break trip to Mexico…stay tuned) is ambitious, but extremely fun to learn and satisfying to play. My night ended with the end of rehearsal, as I finished the night by heading back to my dorm and studying a bit before bed.
Sheet music of the Alma Mater as we practice it in Wind Ensemble rehearsal
With that, I hope you have enjoyed traversing Dartmouth's campus with me on this beautiful Monday, and to all prospective students who have just finished reading this post, I look forward to hearing about how your days at the College on the Hill are spent in the near future!
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