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.)
I'll be honest: winter is not my favorite season. I would much rather have warmer weather. I've always associated winter with being cold and gloomy; however, there are ways to ensure you have fun and still enjoy winter nonetheless!
As the snowflakes fell on the first Sunday of winter term, covering the ground with pure white snow, the excitement in the air was palpable. Walking around on campus, I heard various students mention whether there would be "the snowball fight." But what is the snowball fight, you may ask? First of all, it is a beloved campus-wide tradition. During the first "big" snow of winter term, students receive an invitation from Dr. Seuss (Dartmouth Class of 1925) to participate in a big snowball fight at midnight on the Green! And such an invitation I did receive.
Dr. Seuss's invitation to the snowball fight!
I must admit, looking at the invitation, I was filled with a little trepidation. I had never made or thrown a snowball, let alone been in a snowball fight. I was convinced that the snowball fight would be super competitive, overwhelming a newbie in the snow like me. It would have been so easy to stay indoors and go to bed early. Nevertheless, I gathered a group of friends, and we agreed to meet up on The Green at midnight.
Spoiler: Dr. Seuss had a point: I did, in fact, like it. The snowball fight was a blast! My snowballs were admittedly on the smaller side, but throwing them at others was quite fun! Some of them even decided to fight back with big snowballs, which was quite shocking at first, but I got used to it! The fight was not as cutthroat and competitive as I had expected it to be; it was filled with good-natured fun, chaos, and camaraderie. 45 minutes and way too many snowballs later, my cheeks were cold, my pants were soaked, and my friends and I were ready to head to the dining hall FoCo for some late-night munchies.
The snowball fight may not have been great for my sleep schedule (I ended up going to bed at 2:30 AM when I had classes the next day). Nevertheless, it was a wonderful time filled with amazing memories, and I learned that a good jacket, gloves, and waterproof pants go a long way.
Most students have to go back to college after Thanksgiving to take their finals, but not at Dartmouth! We have a six-week winter break, known as "winterim!" Let me tell you how I spent my winterim!
