Hi guys! I'm Chidera and I'm a '25 from Lagos, Nigeria. I've lived in a big city for nearly half of my life, so it's great to experience the scenic outdoor spaces surrounding Dartmouth. Outside of the classroom, I conduct research with the economics department, I'm a peer tutor for the Academic Skills Center and I'm also involved with the Dartmouth Energy Alliance.
Taking this class was a random and unexpected decision that I am so happy I made. This class was about the intersection between human and primate evolution and our social behaviors. It really opened my eyes to how unique and beautifully diverse different societies are, and how this uniqueness influences our biology in interesting ways.
Taught by Professor Doyle, this has been my favorite class at Dartmouth so far. It was a calculus integrated with economic applications of the concepts we learned. It was the first time this class was offered at Dartmouth, and Professor Doyle made sure we all had a thorough understanding of the material. The fact that we were also able to see the real-world applications of the calculus concepts also made the class uniquely interesting.
I took this class to fulfill Dartmouth's first-year seminar requirement. In selecting a first-year seminar class, I sought out a department that I would not have taken a class in otherwise. It was an incredibly fulfilling experience and I learnt so much about Parisian Impressionist painters in the late 19th century like Monet, Manet, Degas, Morisot and Renoir. It also taught me about the political, social and economic conditions that typically inspire pivotal art movements.
SummerWashington D.C.
This summer, I interned at the International Finance Corporation in DC, through the Rockefeller Center's First-Year Fellows program which gives first-year students the opportunity to engage in public policy early in their Dartmouth careers. I lived with about twenty other members of Dartmouth's Class of 2025 and got to experience life in a vibrant city while gaining professional work experience.
I spent this term in Accra, Ghana for the African and African American Studies department's Foreign Study Program (FSP). I'm so glad I was able to take advantage of one of Dartmouth's study-abroad programs. During this FSP, I got to explore a new country and city while taking classes taught by the amazing professors at the University of Ghana.
After being away from campus for six months, I decided to start working towards fulfilling my distributive requirements. To fulfill my ART distrib, I took a Russian film class with a friend. It was an amazing experience and a testament to the ways a liberal arts education encourages you to approach each class through an interdisciplinary lens. For my final essay in this class, I explored the ways that government and political culture affect the nature of the film industry in different countries.
This class is one of the prerequisites for the international economics track's culminating experience. Dartmouth's economics major allows you to focus on a specific field that you're interested in, while also having the opportunity to take a couple of classes in other fields. Before taking this class, I had always been interested in international economics and this class definitely cemented my interests in the field.
I used my sophomore summer off term to conduct research with the economics department through the Dartmouth Economics Research Scholars and with the funding of the James O. Freedman Presidential Scholarship. My research project, which was mentored and advised by a faculty member, focused on the effects of European Union climate policy on the economy of my home country, Nigeria. It gave me the opportunity to apply and better understand several concepts I learnt in economics classes at Dartmouth.
This was the most enjoyable and impactful class I have ever taken at Dartmouth! Each assigned reading and class discussion was more enthralling and thought-provoking than the last. This class taught me how to think outside the box, write academic articles in the field of the humanities and how to intellectualise and synthesise my own lived experiences in a way that contributes meaningfully to existing literature in African Studies. Lastly, it taught me to think critically about pressing social issues within the African continent.
In the past month, I've been conducting interviews for Dartmouth's Regular Decision applicants and during one of these interviews, I talked about how every aspect of Dartmouth residential life fosters and enables such a close-knit community. In talking about this, I realised how unique this aspect of Dartmouth is and decided to make a blog post about it.
For most Dartmouth students, your first-year residential community, building and floor form your first community and group of friends at Dartmouth. As someone who went to a single secondary school for six years and was nervous about almost relearning how to make friends, this was very helpful for me. I had an instant group of people who I would have weekly meetings with, community dinners and would run into in common rooms and hallways. On my first birthday at Dartmouth in October 2021, only a few weeks into the Dartmouth term, my floormates organised a spontaneous group dinner where we ordered food from a local Hanover restaurant and watched a movie. It was such a heartwarming surprise!
After their first-year, Dartmouth students get the opportunity to room in groups with other people in their housing communities, who they've often gotten the opportunity to form friendships with. In my opinion, these roommate groups add a lot of fun to people's Dartmouth experiences because they get to live with some of their best friends! Similarly, some Dartmouth students opt to live in off-campus houses and apartments with some of their friends. Although these spaces are not directly tied to Dartmouth, they still provide an opportunity for Dartmouth students to hang out, host events and build friendships. Some of my friends who live in off-campus apartments and houses host dinners, movie nights, game nights and themed parties.
Aside from these, living learning communities are another way that students build community through residential life. Living Learning Communities (LLCs) are a system through which students with shared interests can live together and engage in activities related to these interests. In my first-year fall, I was a part of the French LLC; we would have weekly dinners where we would watch French movies, practise our language skills and discuss French news. Other LLCs include the Native American House, Sustainable Living Center and many others.
Lastly, Greek organizations also allow members to live in their houses. This term, I'm living in my sorority house, and it has been such a fun experience so far! Living in a Greek house is always a great opportunity to live with people you already have existing relationships with while deepening your relationships with members that you may not know so well. It's always so fun to run into other members in various rooms in the house. The physical structure of the house also adds a very homey vibe to the living experience as houses often have living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and TV rooms.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
