Hi there :) My name is Bryanna and I'm a '23 who was raised in Singapore. On campus I co-direct Sugarplum Dance Team, am involved in the Dickey Center's War and Peace Fellows program, do oral history research on the Vietnam War, and am writing a history honors thesis on the Cambodian Genocide. In my free time, I work as a barista at a local cafe called the Nest, listen to The Daily, and watch Masterchef (I'm trying to get into cooking).
With only 12 people, this course was the perfect seminar style course to introduce me to the history department at Dartmouth. We learned about pre-Columbus America up until the American Revolution, exploring a vast period of American history that is largely swept over in high school curriculums.
As someone who hopes to attend law school one day, this course was the perfect introduction to legal jargon, briefs, and the like. Professor Kalish helped me improve my writing my leaps and bounds as we explored judicial philosophies, current Supreme Court cases, and court history.
Despite my inability to sing or act, I've always been a big fan of theatre. Quite frankly, this course is one of the reasons I applied to Dartmouth in the first place. We read plays written from the early 1900s up to Hamilton, engaging with each deeply through class discussions and essay writing.
This summer I interned with a food bank in Philadelphia called Philabundance through the Dartmouth Partners in Community Service (DPCS) summer internship program. Each year, students apply to be matched as interns with non-profits in San Francisco, Philadelphia, or Boston. I completed the 10 week internship remotely from Asia, working a 9pm to 5am shift 5 days a week. It was an incredibly timely experience, as I worked primarily on Philabundance's COVID-19 relief efforts.
It's been a tough year to be an international student. My family is based in Singapore, which means that they are no longer "just" a 30-hour plane ride away – I would have to go through a two-week hotel quarantine to get into the country. Last time I was in Singapore was in January of 2021 – almost ten months ago. Me and my best friend Sophie Inkster had braved the quarantine together to go back home for Christmas after Fall Term 2020, but I've been on campus since then. Homesickness and burn out have certainly set in at this point.
I've found that Dartmouth has an incredible community of international students that have served to support me through the past year. We've got about 10 students from Singapore at Dartmouth currently – two of whom went to my own high school! It's hard to put into words the degree to which having a community like this on campus has made this past year bearable. Throughout the Fall, Winter, and Spring we hosted Singapore get togethers at my off-campus house and are in the process of planning for our first dinner together this term. I've been lucky enough to have my little sister join this little group as a 25, along with one guy who did national service for two years and a girl from a local school.
Battling homesickness has been hard but facetimes with parents (made a little more difficult with the twelve-hour time difference) as well as seeing extended family has made it doable. This weekend my aunt and uncle drove up from Connecticut with my 9-year-old cousin Finn to visit for the day. We grabbed lunch in town, showed them around campus, and most importantly, introduced Finn to everyone in sight. He was a huge hit.
When I was going on five months without seeing my parents in May, a Dartmouth '20 told me that one of the things that helped her deal with homesickness was eating good food from home. While Hanover doesn't have the hawker centers of Singapore, there is one exceptional Chinese restaurant called Han Fusion that offers relatively great xiao long bao, Taiwanese soup dumplings that were a staple for me and my friends growing up. Another technique for dealing with homesickness is hanging out with the parents of friends when they come up to Hanover to visit. I've found that my friends parents are so quick to adopt me as their own and make me feel both loved and cared for.
College has its ups and downs, and just like summer camp, homesickness never quite goes away! That being said, everyone is in the same boat, and there are communities on campus to support you as you navigate this transition to living independently.
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!
Planning on visiting Dartmouth as a prospective student or an interested person wanting to see our beautiful campus? In this post, I share insider tips to ensure your visit is fulfilled!
Witnessing an eclipse was one of the most exciting days in my life to date, and a solid reminder of our place in this universe. Read on to hear about it!
