Hello, Eda here: full-time learner, part-time writer, and pretty much a happy amateur at everything else. My hobbies include reading, discovering new movies, and looking at the pictures of my cat. On campus, you can find me peer supporting for the Mental Health Union and SAPA, writing for Spare Rib, doing research in psychology, or listening to Turkish & English alt-rock. Feel free to ask me about taking a gap year, transitioning to a new cultural space, or college in general!
This class discusses the concepts of sex and gender in the broader context of issues related to race, class, national identity, and more. I loved this class because it helped me better understand how systemic inequality affects individual lives and made me think about ways to change it. Professor A'Ness is such an inspiring prof!
In this first-year writing seminar, we discussed how avant-garde movements from futurism to punk rock have constituted a rebellion against the status quo. I loved all the readings for this class and Professor McCann inspired me to take more courses in the English department!
In this course, we learned all the basics of fiction: character, plot, setting, etc. My favorite parts of the course were receiving feedback from other students, reading my peers' work, and having fiction readings as assigned course work! I also appreciated all the guest speakers we had, who were experienced writers in their respective genres.
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this course has been one of the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth so far. The class focused on the etiology, diagnosis, characteristics and treatment of various mental disorders. Professor Hudenko has been one of the greatest lectures I had the pleasure of meeting. As a clinical psychologist himself, he had extensive knowledge in not only the theory, but also the practice of clinical psychology. He also succeeded in making a lecture-based class feel interactive and dynamic.
We covered the complex neural and biological mechanisms of multiple mental health disorders ranging from common conditions like anxiety to more complicated illnesses such as schizophrenia. In addition to reading about the cutting-edge research in this area, we also read memoirs and watched documentaries about the mental illnesses to focus on how these conditions are affecting people in real life. Professor Funnell is one of the best profs I had!
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this has been one of my favorite classes at Dartmouth. We learned about different therapy methods, how and when to use them, their advantages, and shortcomings. The class was incredibly engaging with Professor Hudenko's frequent demonstrations of methods, therapy videos, and guest speakers. I would recommend this class to every psychology major.
I worked at Dimock Health Center as part of my community health internship. I was part of a team of summer interns who were college students like myself. We worked as patient advocates that helped people reach out to resources regarding housing, food, utilities, etc. Most of our work involved calling patients, helping them fill out forms, and researching resources. I learned so much about community health resources and how to communicate with a diverse set of patients. It was an invaluable experience!
I took classes in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London. My favorite class of the term was called London Performance Now, which involved going to different performance events in London and discussing them in class. It was the perfect opportunity to explore the cultural landscape of London.
As the title of the course suggests, this class was about food: its history, economics, and cultural practices. I learned a lot through this course thanks to guest speakers, thought-provoking readings, and engaging assignments. My favorite assignment in this course was writing about a family recipe; I learned so much about my family's history as well as the cultural conflicts in my home country. Overall, it was among the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth. Plus, we even got to eat delicious food cooked by our classmates!
Let's ask the real questions. How does one find a sense of direction in the seemingly endless academic possibilities Dartmouth offers? How does one find meaning and purpose in college and life when trapped in the chaos of an ever-changing young adult brain?
How does one choose a major?
One of the biggest reasons why I applied to colleges in the United States was that, unlike Turkish or European universities, they did not expect me to pick my major while applying to bachelor's programs. I spent my high school years confused about the sense of direction I wanted to take, or as the common saying goes: "what I wanted to do when I grew up." When US colleges asked me to list my academic interests, I said I was a potential sociology and theater double major. A lot has changed since then. I graduated high school, the pandemic happened, and I decided to follow my childhood dream by taking a gap year. By the end of my gap year, I knew what I wanted to study in college: psychology. As was the case with most people, the pandemic exacerbated my mental health issues, and I found myself wanting to study psychology to help people like myself.
In my freshman year, I took one psychology class per term to see if I could see myself majoring in psychology. I allowed myself to explore other departments for my remaining courses. I took classes in Women's Gender & Sexuality Studies, Education, Comparative Literature, and English Literature. The creative writing course I took in my first spring term, CRWT 10: Writing & Reading Fiction, and getting involved in Spare Rib, the intersectional feminist zine, rekindled my interest in writing as a career path. That's why I started considering double-majoring in English literature with a concentration in creative writing and psychology. I am still allowing myself to explore courses in other departments I am interested in. For instance, the sociology course I am taking this term, SOCY 35: Sociology of Mental Health, made me think about minoring in sociology. What I love about Dartmouth's liberal arts education is that I have the flexibility of exploring without committing early on, which is such a breath of fresh air for a student like me who comes from a highly structured academic environment. But enough about me!
Let me tell you a little bit about how my friends are approaching course selection and majors.
J.L. (19) studio art major, reluctant econ major, on her way to becoming a starving artist, an unhappy but rich finance girl, or the greatest artistic genius to have ever graced this earth. The world is her oyster. I am interviewing her about the studio art major later in the year, so stay tuned!
O.B. (19) is undecided, anxious, and insecure, on his way to becoming an econimics & computer science bro. He was so unnecessarily nervous about picking a major that even his faculty advisor and the dean told him to "chill." "Dartmouth is flexible," they told him. The earliest you have to start thinking about your major is the end of your 5th term, which is the end of sophomore winter for O.B. That decision is in no way binding. "A lot of people decide to major in Middle-Eastern studies in their senior year," O.B. repeated what he learned from his faculty advisor and dean. When O.B. asked for advice about narrowing down his wide range of interests, the advice he received from his dean and faculty advisor was really helpful. They told him to keep exploring and be intentional about his class selection. They also congratulated him on his decision to explore a lot in his first year (almost all the classes he took were in different departments!) They advised him to identify the specific aspects of the courses he likes, narrow it out, pick classes with similar aspects, and see whether he likes it again. It's like the scientific approach basically: observe, come up with a hypothesis, and test it. Needless to say that O.B.'s anxiety was mostly resolved thanks to his faculty advisor and dean.
This was a little sneak peek into the possible major paths of three sophomores. Stay tuned for when we have to pick a major!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
