Attending a Poetry Reading
There is always something going on at Dartmouth! This term, I attended a poetry reading hosted by the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department. The reading was the first event in the new Asian American Ampersand Series.
With no poetry experience, I wanted to dip my toes into reading poetry and the process of writing poems. Dartmouth invited Megan Fernandes, an English professor at Lafayette College, who had recently published a book of poetry titled I Do Everything I'm Told, which received glowing reviews from The New Yorker.
With about fifty students in the audience, she started the session by reading various selected poems from the book. Her poems were witty and applicable to a Gen Z audience, which I appreciated as an introduction to poetry.
After reading some poems, she opened the floor to questions from students. She talked about her background as well as her journey to becoming a scholar and poet. She encouraged everyone in the audience to pursue the things they were excited about, while also having a rational plan to execute their dreams.
Everyone in attendance received a free copy of her book, which she signed at the end of the reading. As she focused on English and Biology in college, I talked to her about my experience as a pre-med student with a humanities major.
Overall, this experience highlighted the importance of exploring the liberal arts outside of the classroom in college, and Dartmouth's wide arrange of programming allows me to do that!