Hello friends! My name is Diana D'Souza, and I'm pursuing a double major in Government modified with Economics. On campus, I'm the summer Co-President of Women in Business (WIB) and a Chinese language research assistant. I'm also involved in the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) and will be leading a fly fishing first-year trip in the Grant. In my free time, I enjoy paddleboarding, curating Spotify playlists, and baking with friends.
Hey there! Thank you for stumbling upon my blog and taking the time to get to know me. My name is Diana, and I hail from Edison, NJ, a large town known for its cultural food and home to the Thomas Edison Memorial Tower. I live with my parents and my twin brothers, Adam and Adrian. I am half-Vietnamese, half-Indian and have an unhealthy obsession with hotpot and ramen. In short, the life that I led in my hometown is drastically different from the one I am currently living at Dartmouth. As I left Edison on September 10th to make the six hour drive to New Hampshire, I was reluctant to leave my family, friends, food, and most importantly, my bed behind. However, during orientation week (O-week), I was reminded by plants (yes, plants) of why I so desperately wanted to come to Dartmouth.
On the second day of O-week, my roommate Abigail texted me that Roberts Plants of Hanover was offering free plants to all 23's (that's Hanover hospitality for you right there). We decorated pots for our plants at the Collis Kickoff only to realize that we didn't have any dirt. As the devoted plant moms we are, we ventured to the Life Sciences Center in pursuit of dirt only to discover that the greenhouse was closed.
Fortunately, Professor Schaller noticed us milling around and unlocked the greenhouse for us. Not only did he give us a tray full of dirt, but he showed us a corpse plant (which emits a rotting smell when it blooms), took us around the labs, and spoke about his research. The acts of kindness that Roberts Flowers and Professor Schaller showed us only confirmed that Dartmouth is where I belong.
The corpse flower, AKA "Morphy."
Now, I promise you: my blog will not be entirely about plants. I am interested in speaking about working on campus, writing and business opportunities, concerts, and much more. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
My plant Snowball (on the right) and Abigail's plant Rosie (on the left).
When picking a college, know that you are not only picking a place to learn about the world, but also about yourself—and Dartmouth is a great place to do just that!
I hope this post can be a great starting point for those of you beginning to explore People, Places. Pines. I truly enjoyed reading it while I was in your shoes, and now I'm so excited to be producing content for all of you!
As some of you may have heard about, Dartmouth is known for its prominent party culture. As someone who particularly enjoys that aspect of college life, I was really excited to arrive to Hanover and start going out with my newly made friends.
When you imagine spring break, images of crowded beaches in sunny Florida probably come to mind. However, after being away for ten weeks, I wanted a chance to come home to be with my family. So I spent two wonderful weeks in Georgia.
