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 hate to repeat myself, but I have to recycle what I wrote for my last blog post for the fall term and say: Woah, I can't believe my first academic year at Dartmouth is over already. For my last blog post of the year, I initially planned to write about my favorite parts of each term, but I realized so much has happened during the spring term that I have not talked about. So, here's what I have been up to during spring term!
Woman in Science Project Internship
During winter and spring, I have been a WISP intern in Professor Coch's Reading Brains Lab, which investigates reading and reading-related processes using both behavioral and brain-based electrophysiological measures. We have been running participants non-stop this term, which kept my schedule really busy, but also proved to be a rewarding experience. While I was mostly acting as a second observer, scoring and entering data during the winter term, this term, I have also started to run the experiment as the primary. Professor Coch has been such an inspiring and encouraging faculty advisor from whom I have learned a lot throughout my internship. I also learned a great deal from Laurel, the research assistant working at Reading Brains Lab, who has been incredibly helpful, supportive, and a great role model. Last week, we presented our poster for the Reading Brains Lab at the Karen E. Wetterhahn Science Symposium. It was so exciting to see what my peers in STEM were working on throughout the year. Some of the other projects were on an app designed to facilitate roommate communication, mapping exoplanets, and serotonin networks in mice.
Museum Collecting 101
This term, I also participated in the Hood Museum's Museum Collecting 101 program, which introduces students to the Hood Museum's photography collection, photographic techniques, and the criteria curators use to acquire works for the museum. At the end of the program, we picked a photograph for the museum's collection. It was a truly unique experience where we got to explore the "backstage" of a museum by learning from the wonderful curators of the Hood.
Creative Writing
I was very involved in creative writing in high school, but I have stopped writing for quite a while. This term, I decided to start writing again though I was still a bit nervous about it because I have only done creative writing in Turkish before and was inexperienced in expressing myself creatively in English. Despite my initial worries, I enjoyed writing a lot more than I thought I could. I took CRWT 10: Introduction to Fiction with Professor Crouch, which was my favorite class this term. My favorite part of the class was most definitely reading the stories my classmates wrote. It was amazing to see how much diversity and creativity we had in a class of twelve people. I also enjoyed the short story reading assignments we had. It is such a breath of fresh air to read fiction for a class! This term, I also started writing for Spare Rib, the feminist zine at Dartmouth. It has been such an inspiring experience entering such a welcoming and creative space.
Spending More Time Outdoors
This term, I have spent much more time outdoors than I ever did. Part of it was simply enjoying the wonderful spring weather of Hanover, and part of it was keeping up with the many activities going on all around campus. We had so many impromptu picnics on the green, went canoeing and swimming in the river, and went on so many Woccoms (walks around Occom Pond) with my friends. Not to mention Green Key! It was so refreshing to have so much live music on a single weekend.
Green Key!
This has been a recap of the fun parts of my spring term. Until next time!
Some of my rising senior friends from New York have been in contact with me since graduation, and I've compiled a list of FAQs that might help you better understand life at Dartmouth!
Exploring Chicago with my fellow women engineers from Dartmouth! We explored the city outside of the SWE conference and got to see how exciting Chicago can be.
In Solid Mechanics, we designed and constructed a bridge that held 10kN, around 1000kg! The process, from SOLIDWORKS design to laser cutting to gluing parts together, took us weeks, but it was one of the most rewarding projects I have ever done.
My first time in Chicago at the Society of Women Engineers Conference in Chicago, Illinois! Fully funded by Dartmouth, I had a great time meeting amazing companies and getting to know fellow women engineers.
From orientation week to your classes, you can easily find community at Dartmouth! Read on to know how I met my Dartmouth family and where you might also find yours.
