Hello! My name is Cal Shin, and I am a '27 planning to double-major in Economics and Philosophy. Outside of academics and blogging, you can find me drawing (perhaps even designing for The Dartmouth), hosting my radio show as a proud deejay at WebDCR, perusing the Free Market, or hanging out with friends. Ultimately, I am an artist and a storyteller. I hope you enjoy reading about my Dartmouth experience; the journey has just begun!
I took this course with Professor James Binkoski and loved it! I had never taken a philosophy course prior to Dartmouth, so this introductory course in the department was perfect! After all, it combined my interests of philosophy with time and time travel — at least, how time and time travel are depicted in the media. This course may initially seem to be on the more technical side, but Professor Binkoski made sure to break down the various time travel theories — various ways scientists and philosophers think of time and its supposed movement — in a manner that’s easy for anyone to understand. A very popular course overall; I am fortunate to have been able to take it during my first term here!
I took this course with Professor Ha Yan Lee and it was absolutely amazing! I had my initial reservations about this course, mainly because I knew a lot of my classmates would have had some background knowledge while I had none. Professor Lee did a wonderful job of breaking down concepts in a manner that, as she often put it, is easy for even “your grandparents to understand”. Even beyond the course, the level of care Professor Lee exhibited towards her students is significant. She’s one of the most popular professors at Dartmouth, and for good reason! I ate lunch with her at The Pine through the Take a Faculty Member to Lunch program, and she gave me tremendous insight and advice! Because of this course, I have been inspired to explore more courses within the Econ department and potentially major in Economics.
I took this course with Professor Jasmina Savic and examined how the vampire figure evolved over time, starting with Slavic literature, going through Dracula and Twilight, and ending with “vampire” political figures. I realized what the portrayal of vampires could tell me about the thoughts of that society, including the fact that the early notions of vampirism are akin to modern-day diseases. For my final project, I wrote a research paper comparing the gumiho (the Korean nine-tailed fox) to several Western vampires.
SummerNew York City, New York
I had the opportunity to visit New York City for the summer! I met up with a good friend of mine, explored the city itself, and went to a networking event with other college students.
ECON 10 is one of the required courses for the Economics major. Based on my stellar experience with Professor Ha Yan Lee during ECON 1, when I saw that she was teaching ECON 10 this term, I immediately jumped at the chance to take the course with her. Once again, Professor Lee did an amazing job of breaking down concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. (The fact that her slideshows were colorful and featured various pictures of cats helped.)
Club Spotlight: Dartmouth Undergraduate Science Olympiad
Many years ago, during the academic year of 2017-2018, students in Dartmouth's School of Graduate and Advanced Studies hosted their first Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament on campus. Unfortunately, several years went by with no such competitions since, making Dartmouth the only Ivy League university without an annual invitational tournament.
Fast forward seven years. During the spring of 2024, a group of undergraduates came together as a small group wanting to fix this. Most of us had been involved with the Science Olympiad organization as competitors during middle and/or high school, and we felt that it was a shame our involvement with the organization had to stop at college. While we were no longer able to compete in events, we thought it would be meaningful to give back to the community that gave so much to us by hosting our own events for local schools. We met up to discuss logistics and held elections, and I became the organization's first treasurer. It was there that the club, now known as Dartmouth Undergraduate Science Olympiad, was born.
Recognition as a new student organization did not stop there. During the summer of 2024, the team met up virtually to form a constitution, design logos, and determine the specifics behind getting Council on Student Organizations (COSO) recognition. All of our hard work paid off in the fall of 2024 when our student organization officially became COSO-recognized.
While COSO recognition was a big win, our main purpose was to host an invitational tournament. During the fall and winter terms, we were hard at work behind-the-scenes to make our first invitational tournament a successful one. We wrote challenging tests for different events, coordinated logistics, and schedules for the competitors, and designed merchandise for participants and volunteers. Organizing a tournament at this scale was no small feat. Fortunately, after almost a year of planning, the big day finally came. Thanks to our dedication, the tournament was a success, and we are excited to make this a tradition for years to come.
What is happening on campus over the winterim? In my last blog, I talked about myself participating in the TuckLAB energy program, and in this blog, I interviewed a friend who also spent some time on campus over the interim.
Don't know what to bring for a Dartmouth winter? Stressed about how to dress for the cold and snow? Look no further than this blog post, where I share my tips and tricks to dress for wintery Hanover.
