Hello! I'm Cal Shin, and I am a '27 from Cary, North Carolina. I am hoping to double-major in Economics and Philosophy. Outside of academics and blogging, you'll find that I am involved with The Dartmouth as a designer, WebDCR as art director and weekly radio show host, and the Dartmouth QuestBridge Scholars Network (DQSN) as an executive board member and incoming vice president. Ultimately, I am a storyteller, and I hope you enjoy these stories about my Dartmouth journey!
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.
Before I came to Dartmouth, I was initially worried about finding an on-campus job and balancing that with the demanding coursework. I came from a high school that adopted year-long classes, so to switch from that to the fast-paced, 10-week quarter system was initially daunting. Luckily, I came to find out that finding an on-campus job is much easier than I thought it would be.
First of all, People, Places, Pines always looks for new bloggers every year! I discovered the application by following the official Dartmouth Class of 2027 Instagram page. Having voraciously read the blog during my time as a high school senior, applying to become a blogger seemed like a no-brainer. The application asked me about my previous writing experience, why I chose Dartmouth, and some potential advice I would give to applicants. Additionally, I was asked to draft a blog post as if I were a blogger.
My next on-campus job is not super formal! I remained on campus for the duration of winterim, and a fellow FYSEP '27 strongly recommended me to be a research assistant for a professor emeritus. While I had never spoken to this professor prior to this, I did not hesitate to take up the opportunity. At the very least, it gave me something productive to do on campus during the 6-week period!
Last but most certainly not least, I am a social media content creator for Dartmouth Libraries! I found this particular job while looking at JobX, a database of all open jobs—both on and off campus—that the Student Employment Office maintains and updates periodically. I signed up to receive email notifications whenever a new job opens up, and when I got an email about this particular job, I was interested! Since then, I have helped create a wide variety of content for the Dartmouth Libraries social media.
This is what the JobX platform looks like! You can filter your options based on what you're working for (in-person, hybrid, Dartmouth jobs, non-Dartmouth jobs) as well as industry and time.
You may notice that all of my jobs are on-campus. That is intentional on my part; I did not want to have to deal with the logistics of traveling off campus in addition to my coursework. However, I won't say that having an off-campus job is impossible to handle. Off-campus jobs are also posted on JobX and can be anything from caring for an elderly family member to working at a daycare to working at a nearby café! I know quite a few friends who have these off-campus jobs, and they have not faced significant difficulties due to the location of their employment.
Of course, I can't talk about employment without talking about the workload and working conditions. I can't speak for every job on campus, but the workload for all my jobs makes it easy to balance it with a very intense Dartmouth courseload. Additionally, as of the time I am writing this post, Dartmouth's minimum wage is $16.25 an hour, more than double America's federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Keep in mind that is just the minimum wage; all of my jobs actually pay me more than $16.25 an hour. All of my employers have been super understanding of my academic and extracurricular conflicts, and I can tell that they genuinely appreciate us and the work that we do.
In short, it is very easy to find both on- and off-campus jobs at Dartmouth. As long as you are willing to put in the work of keeping up with JobX and applying to the jobs that interest you, you are bound to secure employment in no time!
This week at Dartmouth, I had an amazing time performing with Ujimelt. I also enjoyed making delicious Japanese curry with my roommate. To top it off, I had a relaxing movie night at Nugget Theaters, watching Despicable Me 4.
Welcome to the first part of Dartmouth Debunked, a series of comprehensive blog posts answering common questions first-years have prior to their arrival at Dartmouth. This post will cover all the housing options for a first-year student.
In the summer, prospective students might take the time to visit potential colleges and universities to apply to. But what are some things to look for as you peruse campuses and take in the view, especially during the summer? Here are some ideas!
My first-year at Dartmouth has been a period of profound growth and self-discovery. It has challenged me to push beyond my limits, embrace my strengths and weaknesses, and navigate the complex web of opportunities that define college life.
