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.)
Green Key: A quintessential Dartmouth tradition along with Homecoming and Winter Carnival—and the one remaining tradition I had yet to experience as a freshman. There is no one way to define Green Key, nor is there one Green Key experience. Green Key may refer to the big concert hosted by Collis Programming Board, but in general, it encapsulates the weekend people spend going to the PB concert, the live band performances at the Collis Center for Student Involvement, and the variety of concerts different Greek houses host.
I started off my Green Key weekend Friday afternoon attending a block party hosted by Phi Delta Alpha (colloquially known as Phi Delt). This, like most parties at Dartmouth, was advertised to the campus community and open to anyone on campus. Student band Tightrope performed their own renditions of popular songs that I personally enjoyed.
Phi Delt Block Party!
After a few hours of dancing and singing along, I remembered that I had signed up to volunteer for Green Key. I quickly headed to Tuck Drive, making sure to grab some dinner beforehand, and helped facilitate students' and their guests' entry into the venue. Due to the large number of people who attend this concert, Dartmouth requires all attendees to have wristbands. My job was to check that everyone entering the venue did in fact adorn their proper wristbands.
After an hour of volunteering (guaranteeing myself a free Green Key 2024 t-shirt), I headed to the stage to listen to the artists. Student band Read Receipts was first in the line-up, followed by student DJs Vivachae, rapper Young M.A., and Shaggy. We laughed, sang, and danced until way past sundown.
Shaggy!
Throughout the weekend, the Collis Center for Student Involvement offered a variety of programming. A variety of bands such as Chance Emerson, Bermuda Search Party, and Pacific Avenue performed live music on the Collis porch, accompanied with free food such as Ben & Jerry's ice cream. On Saturday afternoon, my friends and I grabbed some free bubble wands from Collis and blew some bubbles before listening to a couple of the band performances.
Next, I headed to another concert at Kappa Delta Epsilon (KDE). After the concert, one of my friends and I decided to go to the river and relax! We ended up meeting a few upperclassmen ('23s and '24s) who invited us to play cards. A simple invitation quickly turned into a long night of random conversation.
Sunset at the River!
While the concert itself was pretty nice, a weekend of memorable moments with friends—old and new—is what I think Green Key is about. As Green Key marks the start of an end to spring term and to my freshman year, it feels bittersweet in a way knowing that time flew by so fast. Still, I have three more years to go, and plenty of new memories on the horizon.
It's hard to believe that it has been a year since I wrote my first end-of-fall-term reflection. It felt like only yesterday that I stepped into my dorm room this September, eager to reunite with my friends.
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!
As a second-year at Dartmouth, I've embraced leadership roles that foster community, creativity, and support! Here's a look at how each role has shaped my journey.
