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 be honest; college life does get a bit repetitive. Every student deals with the occasional boredom a structured academic setting brings on their terms. My favorite ways of coping are to rewatch my favorite shows with my friends in the common rooms of our residential halls, catch movies, or watch live events at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Yeah, you guessed it right; I love good-old escapism in the form of media consumption, but I also love being moved, challenged, and inspired by what I watch. Thanks to Dartmouth's efforts in making the arts accessible, I had plenty of opportunities to do just that!
I have geeked out about the Hop (the Hopkins Center for the Arts) multiple times in the past, but I cannot seem to stop myself from writing about it even more. A special event that the Hop hosts every year is Telluride at Dartmouth, thanks to which the students, staff, and Hanover residents can watch movies from the Telluride festival before they are available to the public. The tickets cost only 8 dollars for Dartmouth students compared to 15 dollars for the general public, while the Telluride pass to see all the movies cost 40 dollars instead of 75. I have been so grateful to Dartmouth for making such a unique experience widely accessible! This year's Telluride movies included: The Wonder, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths; Women Talking; Tori and Lokita; Wildcat; Tár, and Icarus: The Aftermath. While I would have loved to see every Telluride movie available, I could only see The Wonder and Women Talking. They were among the most thought-provoking and engaging films I have seen all year. Women Talking has made it to the top of my favorite movies ever.
Dartmouth not only offers students the opportunity to see great works of art on screen, but the college also inspires them to become creators themselves. Film classes at Dartmouth are among such opportunities. Beyond the classroom, the Jones Media Center (JMS) also enables students to get behind the camera. Students can borrow equipment to shoot their films, and the JMS staff is available for consultation. One fun event JMS organizes every year is the 48-Hour Video Contest. As part of the contest, students are given a prompt and a fun little prop to include in their media projects. Students then have 48 hours to write, produce, shoot, and edit their short movies. This year, my friend Ore, who is majoring in Film, asked me to act in her short movie as part of the 48-Hour Contest. Though I am a mediocre actress at best and have no experience acting in front of a camera, I had no hesitation in saying yes to helping her out because why not? What makes Dartmouth a special place is unexpected yet welcome opportunities like this, which lets you escape the tedium of mundane college life.
That's it for this week's blog post, now I got to catch the premier of my friend's short movie at Jones Media Center. Until next time!
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
