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!
I have had multiple student jobs since my freshman fall: I worked in two different labs, Reading Brains Lab, and AIM High Lab, and I am a blogger for the admissions. I wrote about these jobs before, and you can read more about them here, but this blog post is all about my new job: facilitating first-year sessions for the Sexual Violence Prevention Project (SVPP).
SVPP is a two-year program designed for first-years and sophomore students, who attend in-person sessions each term even though the first two classes to complete the training, while 24s and 25s (juniors and seniors), had some online sessions . Each session has a different focus, ranging from resources at the college and the Upper Valley to recognizing signs of positive versus negative relationships. The ultimate goal is to create a campus community that actively prevents sexual violence from occurring.
I completed sexual violence prevention during my first two years at Dartmouth and then I decided to apply to be a facilitator because I believe the project has a lot of potential in changing the culture of Dartmouth for the better. I was trained during sophomore summer and started facilitating sessions this term after I returned from my study abroad.
I had the chance to facilitate the first-year session on Bystander Intervention, which discusses how to recognize harmful behaviors, barriers to intervening, and ways to overcome such barriers. While there is room for improvement in this training, it is also promising in how it gets first-years talking about how to be more active bystanders to prevent harm in their community. My favorite part of being a facilitator for SVPP is seeing students really engage with the content of the workshops, which always makes the session more fruitful. I also love meeting new people through SVPP, as we co-facilitate each session. It makes me so grateful and hopeful to see my peers sign up to educate each other for a safer campus for all.
I also like SVPP because it is research-driven. The effectiveness of the facilitation sessions are studied in partnership with UNH Prevention Innovations Research Center. I have hope for the SVPP's future and Dartmouth because so many people are working to make it better.
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!
