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.
There are so many things that come to mind when I ask myself what I miss about campus. The smiles as you pass classmates on the Green, the satisfaction of finishing a paper in the Baker-Berry tower room, the sweet taste of a FOCO cookie. I'm not quite sure when I'll next be on campus, but when I do finally step off the Dartmouth Coach and into Hanover, there are a couple of things (socially-distanced, of course) that I certainly will be doing.
1. Ordering a chicken tender quesadilla from the Hopkins Center's Courtyard Cafe. Yum. I could eat these all day every day, and quite frankly, there was a period during Fall term when after dance and rowing practice, I would do just that.
2. Spending a late night in Baker-Berry Library. There is nothing quite as inspiring as sitting on the third floor of Baker and watching your classmates grind out a problem set or essay. People have their headphones in, listening to their respective study playlists, but there is a sense of community that I cannot quite put my finger on. After spending Spring term doing online classes alone, I simply cannot wait to work alongside others once again, even if it is in silence.
3. Stargazing on the BEMA (Big Empty Meeting Area). In the big city that is Singapore, we don't get the kind of stars that dot the sky above Hanover. I remember looking up at night for the first time during First-Year Trips—it was ethereal.
4. Hiking with friends. From Gile Firetower to Balch Hill to something more intense like Moosilauke, there are so many places to get out in nature. The beauty of having the wild at our disposal is that it's the perfect way to gather responsibly despite COVID-19 restrictions on spacing.
5. A socially distanced picnic on the Green. Now, this is a seasonally-dependent thing, but during Spring or Fall term, there is nothing quite like getting a Collis pasta, salad, stir fry, or smoothie to go and eating it on the grass with some friends. Be it frisbee, spike ball, local dogs, or the Hanover farmers market, there is always something to watch—six feet apart, of course.
6. Exploring Hanover. Now, the town of Hanover is exceptionally special. From the cute cafes to locally-owned stores, it's so great to hop off-campus and take advantage of all the good eats, entertainment, and shopping that Hanover has to offer. Most cafes and restaurants are currently offering outdoor seating that spills out onto Main Street. Ah, to experience small-town life once again.
7. Running or biking along the Connecticut River. I've never been a big fan of running, as coming from the equator, "going for a run" means melting the bottom of your shoes on steaming pavement in 100-degree weather. But in late February when the weather started to warm in Hanover, my team began going for runs up the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. For the first time in my life, I actually began to look forward to tying up my running shoes. There was nothing quite like seeing the morning sun glinting off the river.
8. Seeing the incredible Dartmouth community again. Without question, the hardest part of being away from campus has been separation from the wonderful people I met over my first two terms at college. Seeing their faces (even with masks on) and sharing laughs again will make my heart swell. I simply cannot wait.
Coming back from Spring break usually means coming back to an entirely different campus than the one you left in the Winter – but that was not the case this year! Read on to hear more...
Many small classes at Dartmouth are seminar-style and are the cornerstone of the intellectual exploration and intentionality that define the learning experience at Dartmouth.
