Hey!! I'm Eloise and this is my blog! I'm a '28 from New Holland, Pennsylvania. I love to read and write in my free time and I'm so excited to get involved in clubs at Dartmouth. I love exploring the outdoors and I can't wait to go on more trips with the Dartmouth Outing Club. I hope you enjoy my blog!
This course covers modern American history through an imperial lens. It was my first time learning about these topics and events in-depth, and I learned so much! The class focuses on small group discussions and having nuanced conversations about assigned readings. It was the perfect class for my first fall! I cannot recommend this class enough!
This course was my first-year seminar, a portion of the Dartmouth first-year writing sequence. In this class, we read four Jane Austen novels and discussed them as a class. The best part was our final project: creating an exhibit to be displayed in Baker-Berry Library! In partnership with Rauner Special Collections Library, we worked with Austen's first editions and designed an exhibit to celebrate Austen’s 250 Birthday.
This course introduces different types of sociological research methods, which culminate in a final research proposal to explore the topic of your choice. I'm not a sociology major, so I was intimidated at first, but I fell in love with the class and the topics. I stepped outside my comfort zone, and I learned so much. I highly recommend it!
SummerWashington, D.C.
For my first off-term at Dartmouth, I spent the summer in Washington, D.C. as a First-Year Fellow through the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth. I interned at the House of Representatives, where I met constituents, politicians, and legislative staffers who help run our country. I learned so much about policy issues close to my heart, like animal rights and climate change. I also had so much fun exploring D.C. with the other fellows and learning about our nation’s capital!
This course is a requirement for English majors and discusses literary history from the early 10th century to the mid-17th century. We read Beowulf, works from Chaucer and Spenser, and tales about King Arthur and his knights. I loved exploring the worlds of romance and fantasy, while also learning about the historical significance and influence of these works. This class was so fun and it was a great introduction to the English department!
Winter Carnival is a weekend's worth of festivities and wintry fun that's been a tradition at Dartmouth for the past 116 years! The whole weekend is organized by the students in the Winter Carnival Council, a club open to all undergraduates and supervised by the wonderful student involvement staff at Collis.
Last year, I was on the council, and I had such a great experience planning and organizing the weekend. This year, I knew I wanted to be a part of the club again, but this time, I wanted to be a co-chair, the student leaders who help facilitate club meetings and work more closely with Collis staff to organize the weekend's events.
So, along with two other second-year students, I was a co-chair of this year's Winter Carnival! Among the three of us, we split up the main, cornerstone events, so we were all in charge of one or two. I oversaw the opening celebration and ice sculpture contest!
Planning for the Carnival starts in the fall when we pick a theme. This year we went with "The Blizzard of Oz: Wicked Cold". Many of my friends are big Wicked fans, so they were very excited about the theme!
As a co-chair, my main responsibilities in the fall and over winterim were brainstorming ideas for events and reaching out to staff and faculty to get the ball rolling on specific events. After returning from winterim, we shifted from brainstorming and planning to actually getting ready for the weekend's events.
This involved lots of meetings. In the weeks leading up to the weekend, I met with Collis staff one-on-one, with my fellow co-chairs, with the entire Winter Carnival Council, and various other helpers to get ready for the events.
Since I was in charge of the opening celebration, my main duties were deciding what activities, food, and decorations we should have for the event. For food, we decided to serve pink and green and sweet and savory snacks as a nod to Glinda and Elphaba.
As for decorations, the opening celebration was held in the Collis Center, which means we needed to decorate the center's lobby and Collis Common Ground, the main room where the opening occurs.
Inside the Opening Celebration!
In the lobby, we installed a string art rainbow from the ceiling and turned the entrance to Common Ground into the gates of the Emerald City. Common Ground itself was lit up green, and a yellow brick road was projected onto the ground.
I wanted everyone to be able to take home a souvenir from the event, so we decided to have friendship bracelet making and stuff-a-plush activities. Attendees could make a lion, tiger, or bear stuffed animal and make bracelets with their friends.
The event was super successful! It was packed with everyone enjoying the food, activities, and ambiance. After the opening celebration, a lot of people stuck around for Wizard of Oz-themed trivia, which was so fun!
The next day, I helped out at the Polar Bear Swim. This event is a huge Dartmouth tradition, where students brave the cold of Occom Pond and swim a short distance in the water.
The Polar Bear Swim!
In addition to this event, Friday also marked the first day of the ice sculpture contest. Student organizations carve their own ice sculptures over two days, which are then displayed on Collis's porch for the town to admire.
After the ice sculptures are finished, students can vote on their favorites. I helped facilitate the voting and worked with other council members to decide our favorite for the council's choice award. The top three sculpture groups won $200!
I loved being a co-chair this year and having the opportunity to organize such a fun weekend for the whole campus! In between helping out at events, I also had plenty of time to partake in the activities myself.
My friends and I even entered the annual chili cook-off. We had so much fun cooking the chili and designing an eye-catching sign for the competition. Judged by President Beilock, our chili won first place! We earned a trophy and bragging rights for the whole year!
Winter Carnival is my favorite weekend of the year, and I loved being a co-chair!
There was never a single "aha!" moment of clarity when I knew that Dartmouth was right for me, yet now, it is impossible for me to imagine having chosen anywhere else.
Green Key weekend at Dartmouth was filled with concerts, free food, live music, reunions, and spontaneous moments with friends. Read on to hear why this weekend reminded me what makes spring term at Dartmouth feel so special.
Amid the whirlwind of a ten-week term, the quietest moments — studying in the sun, cooking with a friend, running through Pine Park — turn out to be the ones worth savoring most.
