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!
Before coming to Dartmouth, I was worried about being able to get a student job, as I did not have a job before attending college. Student jobs are not easy to come by in my home country, Turkey, and intense academics leave little to no time. I was afraid I did not have the experience, so why would anyone hire me? Flash forward to my junior spring, and I have had five jobs starting during the fall of my first year. My first job ever was writing these very words: blogging for the admissions. A job I applied for the summer before my first year at Dartmouth. I was fortunate enough that most of the jobs I had, particularly research assistant in psych labs and facilitating sexual violence prevention, have been helpful for my long-term career aspirations as a prospective clinical psychologist.
Working for the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a whole other story. It is not directly related to my career goals, but it is one of the most enjoyable jobs I have ever had. I had always wanted to work for the arts because I love going to the theater and the cinema, and I have always had tremendous respect for people who make it possible to have these arts experiences in the first place.
I was always excited to start this job, but I couldn't have guessed how much it would expand my skill set. While my newly polished communication skills from my healthcare internship the previous summer were immensely helpful in getting comfortable in this position. I learned a lot on the technical side of things, like the software used to sell tickets around the country. The software is not immediately intuitive, and it has a big learning curve, which is what makes it such an important skill to learn early on. While I do not plan on working with ticket logistics post-graduation, you never know what happens, and I am glad I have these communication and technical skills under my belt!
There are also fun little rewards to this job you would not initially anticipate. In my fifth week in the position, I learned that I get a free ticket to any event at the Hopkins Center. While student tickets are affordable, it does not hurt to save a little money! Because I have access to ticket-selling software during my phone hours, I can easily sell my friends' tickets without them having to bother buying them on their own as a small act of service. I also get to interact with the greater Upper Valley community, who happen to be the most loyal patrons of the Hopkins Center. It is refreshing to see how life goes on in the Upper Valley beyond the typical Dartmouth student life. One last fun thing is that when I do "will call," I learn firsthand which of my friends happened to not show up for a show they have tickets for, and I get to tease them afterward.
Stay tuned for more adventures at the Hopkins Center!
Over half of Dartmouth students study abroad at least once during their undergraduate journeys—quite a high percentage, right? Do you want to know how to best prepare for your own abroad experience? Come check what it was like for me.
At Dartmouth, there is an undergraduate requirement for language; after all, it is the liberal arts! Fulfilling this requirement looks different for various people and I will focus on my experience.
