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.
In high school, I was a classified theater nerd. I did backstage crew for every performance, acted a few times, and made sure I was involved in some way shape or form throughout my entire career on the amateur stage. What made those experiences so important for me were the people I was able to meet, the disciplines I was able to work with and combine, and the simple application of creativity to create something worth sharing with the community.
When I got to Dartmouth, I looked to recreate this sense of community and creativity in a way that I was familiar with. After integrating myself into the theater department throughout my first year with a student-led theater group, I decided to take a theater class alongside my engineering prerequisites. I'm currently taking Theater 41, the stage management class!
Our class meets twice a week on Mondays and Wednesday and focuses on the readings we did before class on real life stage management and other aspects of theater necessary for anyone looking to organize a production. Aside from class time, we need to attend rehearsals twice a week for the mainstage theater performance. This year, that show is Pippin! A circus-like production about love, family, and loss, Pippin is proving to be a super fun show that everyone is excited to work on.
My favorite part about stage management is how collaborative it is. When you stage manage, you're responsible for the interaction between each part of a production. From choreographers to actors to directors, stage managers act as a liaison between each creative group. Without the stage manager, communication between all the moving parts could become incredibly difficult. I seek this skill in my current discipline of study as engineering involves combining the skills and perspectives of many different people.
Stage managers also need to be innovative and creative! When in this role in a theater, problem-solving and conflict resolution are important parts of the job. In order to do this, stage managers must be able to think of different ways to solve problems and carry them out effectively. For example, if an actor is uncomfortable carrying out a scene because of its content, a stage manager must communicate this with the director and brainstorm solutions to make sure all parties can compromise and come to an agreement.
Overall, taking this stage management class has allowed me to gain a creative outlet aside from my studies and develop skills that will be necessary to accomplish my goals in the future! If you're a little bit of a theater nerd at heart but don't want to pursue it as a major, I urge you not to be discouraged. Dartmouth has allowed me to form intersections between all my passions, even the ones that seem not to go hand-in-hand.
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.
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.
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.
Witnessing an eclipse was one of the most exciting days in my life to date, and a solid reminder of our place in this universe. Read on to hear about it!
