My name is Eva, and I'm a '25 Mechanical Engineering BE student from Upstate New York. My time at Dartmouth has been marked by the combination of the arts and engineering on campus and you can often find me working on a new project in either the Dartmouth Engineering Machine Shop or Visual Arts Center. In my free time, I love to work on lego sets and watch the craziest reality tv I can find!
This was a great exploratory class to take as an introduction to Dartmouth. I took it with Professor DeSilva, an extremely passionate individual who made this class incredibly engaging the whole way through! Coming into college I never would have expected my favorite class to have been about monkeys and early humans, but I discovered a deep interest in the evolution of reproduction.
Coming from a background of little chem experience, this class was challenging, but fun! I learned a ton about the foundations of chemistry and their applications in the modern world. My favorite part of this class was the lab where I got to see what I was learning in class in real life. I'll be taking a lot more chemistry in the future and I feel a lot more comfortable with the material as well as how to study effectively.
Design Thinking for Engineering was an incredible class that completely restructured the way I make decisions. With an 100% project based course load, this class develops teamwork, positive attitudes, and an eye for design. Not only did I learn a lot, but it inspired me to pick up a minor in Human Centered Design.
SummerHome
I took my off term in the summer to work at a coffee shop close to home as a Barista. Ask me about where to get the best coffee on campus!
My first art class and my favorite class yet! Under the instruction of a fantastic artist, I learned about many kinds of printing and made some incredible art to add to my portfolio. This is a great class for beginning artists and stood as a great start to my arts career at Dartmouth. The printmaking community within the arts department is incredibly supportive and full of talent.
Imagine taking an engineering project from its ideation to creation all in 10 weeks: stressful, but an awesome experience! Paired with an incredible team of interdisciplinary majors, I worked on the development of an electronic kettlebell to "gamify" the workout experience.
This was an incredible theatre workshop taught by a known August Wilson scholar. We read all of August Wilson's plays over the course of this class and engaged in meaningful discussion about their meaning and significance.
The summer theater workshop is an experiential class that brings students and current artists together to work on collaborative projects. This class allowed me to expand greatly as an artist and create meaningful connections with people who are currently pursuing theater full time.
FallCincinnati, Ohio
During my off term, I pursued an engineering internship at Johnson and Johnson in their surgical devices department.
College life requires a certain level of juggling. Along with rigorous academics comes a social life, personal responsibility, and extracurriculars. Sometimes it feels like all of these balls keep getting heavier and harder to throw, demanding clear organization and set priorities. For some, athletics is yet another object to throw into the mix! Since I'm not an athlete myself, I asked one of my good friends on the tennis team to give me the rundown on what being a student athlete is like.
I met Alex, a freshman from England, through a couple of friends I met during orientation week. We first bonded over silly notebook doodles before he invited me to one of his tennis matches. I had never witnessed a college tennis match, but found myself incredibly invested in the experience after an hour. A fast paced and intense game, I wondered how much time he had to put in outside of class to get that good! After interviewing him, I found that the answer is simply "a lot."
Alex has practice every day of the week paired with team lifts and weekend matches. Because of this significant time commitment, he has found that he needs to pay more attention to the balance of his schedule. For example, he missed 3 days of school during winter term and around 10 during the fall. This necessitated constant communication with his professors to manage midterm dates, class material, and homework submissions. He also had to amend his study schedule given all of his lack of weekend availability. Instead of saving his work for a Sunday, he has to spread it out over the course of the week and make sure he doesn't get overwhelmed.
Alex also lamented his lack of ability to join school clubs. Though I know some student athletes who are still able to commit themselves to other extracurriculars, it ended up being a bit too much to juggle for Alex. He has a deep interest in sports analytics, but is looking for other ways to implement that passion into his day to day life that doesn't involve weekly meetings.
The number one thing that Alex loves most about pursuing tennis at Dartmouth is the team camaraderie he receives. He finds that he has a lot in common with the 9 other guys on his team and since they spend so much time together, he never feels like he lacks social interaction. The team has gotten incredibly close over the course of the last two terms and he looks forward to spending the next few years with them!
Though a huge time commitment and change of lifestyle, being a student athlete at Dartmouth can bring an incomparable team dynamic and sense of community.
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.
Traditionally, Dartmouth students take three courses during a term, but I decided to take four courses this term! Learn about course load and the academic system at Dartmouth.
As I approach the halfway mark of my Dartmouth journey this spring, I find myself reflecting on the significance of distributive and world culture requirements in shaping my academic experience.
This is my final term before senior year, which is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. One thing I am excited about is the classes I am taking this term, so let me tell you more!
This is part two of me "nerding out" about my honors thesis! If you want to learn more about independent projects, theses, or the humanities at Dartmouth, check it out!
