Aloha to the page of a wanderlusting writer juggling college life and several other hobbies into an eternally-short 24-hour day. I hope to shed light on the Dartmouth experience as I explore the brave new world of Hanover, NH and everything going to college here has to offer. In my free time, you can find me trying to learn a new language or building the perfect Spotify playlist (alternative/indie, anyone?). I hope you enjoy!
Taught by Gordon Henry, an Anishinaabe poet and author, this class taught me to explore Indigenous storytelling within digital contexts. I took this class with only seven other classmates, allowing us to really engage with films, comic books, and television shows in Indigenous languages or produced by Indigenous artists.
Taught by Timothy Pulju, this class taught me how to identify and understand how languages evolve over time and why. I analyzed and reconstructed fictional languages of imaginary nations in order to understand the link between language and culture, and ended up having such an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of language's place in history!
Taught by Lindsay Whaley, this class let me discover a newfound love for ancient apocalyptic literature. We analyzed ancient texts and compared them to modern apocalypses, looking at the zombie apocalypse phenomenon and other apocalypses in pop culture and comparing them to the ancient tradition of writing apocalypses. Additionally, I learned the Greek alphabet and now I can even stumble through ancient Greek passages.
FallNew Orleans, LA
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught and organized by David Peterson, this class let me get into the shoes of a real linguist as we did fieldwork (virtually!!) with the Zophei language. I learned how to describe a never-before-learned language's phonology (sound system), how to characterize its grammar and words, and ultimately got to present my research to experts in the language family around the world in a workshop at the end of the term!
WinterHanover, NH
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class taught me how Native literature can provide lens by which to evaluate, critique, and ultimately revise Federal Indian Law. During this class, I read works by Native authors like Tommy Orange and Louise Erdrich '76 alongside the opinions of definitive case opinions in American law and explained how literature can be a catalyst for Indigenous sovereignty.
Supervised by N. Bruce Duthu, I spent this off-term performing research after being awarded a Sophomore Research Scholarship to study contemporary Hawaiian cultural and linguistic revitalization. I studied 19th-century newspapers and contemporary Hawaiian texts in order to understand how Hawaiian language revitalization both past and present has advanced and continues to enable a contemporary bodied Hawaiian politic of sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me about how languages create meaning through words. During this class, I learned how to analyze different languages' morphological processes and compare different approaches within the field as to morphological structures.
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class offered me a glimpse into the lived realities of Native people in Indian Country Today. I learned about the economic, social, cultural, and historical roots for the struggles of Indigenous people today within the United States, and was able to write about the contemporary battle for Native Hawaiian visibility and Hawaiian sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me how to engage in language documentation and how, as a linguist, we can put our skills to use to help communities seeking to document and revitalize their languages. I worked on the Satawalese language, spoken on the island of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ultimately, my team created two dictionaries - one in English, one in Hawaiian, a website, and several materials that focused on the Satawalese tradition of wayfinding and non-instrumental ocean navigation.
Taught by Charles Eastman fellow Sunaina Kale, this class taught me about the role of sound in delineating, conceiving, and comprehending relations between people and the land in Indigenous musical traditions. Over the course of the class, we discussed Indigenous musicians, listened to music from Native peoples around the world, heard from masterful Indigenous musicians, and ultimately presented a project that creatively analyzed a song of our choice. My project focused on the song "Ask Yourself" by Foster the People, and I wrote a poem that integrated aspects of Indigenous languages and worldviews to answer questions posed by the song.
This term, I formally began the research process for my upcoming honors thesis in the Linguistics department on Hawaiian semantics! While living in Hanover, I also began working as a Senior Fellow with the Admissions department—a position I will be holding for the entirety of my last year at Dartmouth.
At the time of my writing this post, I'm about to start Week 6 of my second term as a sophomore at the College. I didn't anticipate almost an entire year passing before I'd see my beautiful campus again, but here we are!
Last winter, I definitely didn't manage to do everything I wanted. Winter in the Upper Valley is a special experience that scales with your interest. This term I decided to take complete advantage of more of the frosty opportunities that going to school here provides, so as soon as my quarantine period ended, my friends and I made a trip firstly to secure boba from a new place that opened in town (easily some of the best boba I've had) and then secondly to check out an ice skating rink that Dartmouth set up on the Green.
In order to allow for students to socialize and vibe without violating social distancing and other pandemic precautions, Dartmouth set up a complete ice skating rink on the Green. You can rent skates from Dartmouth for free and they'll give you your size and then it's straight to the ice.
If you read any of my older posts about my previous winter, you might know that I am the worst ice skater ever. The rumors are true: I'm still a terrible ice skater, but what if I told you that I managed to go a few yards without a trash can to hold onto this time? It's true. Believe it.
I remember, as a kid, thinking that skiing was just something that people did in movies or in the Arctic, but hey mom, look at me now.
Additionally, I am now taking ski lessons with Dartmouth! I was able to rent ski boots and skis from Dartmouth, and received financial aid that will cover the cost of my lessons and equipment rentals so long as I attend at least three classes. Additionally, I'm covered with a ski pass and everything, and free transportation is provided for Dartmouth students to and from the Dartmouth Skiway. Where else can you find an opportunity like this?
You could truly say that in the past term I've come to develop a greater love for winter. Coming from warm places, including Myrtle Beach where I now live, I don't see snow very often at all. It's so hard to explain how beautiful of an experience it is to look out the window while studying and see falling snow, or have the option of going ice skating with my friends at a moment's notice, or making excuses for us to get hot coffee from Novack or from town. Quintessentially Dartmouth, I couldn't imagine it any other way. It's a lowkey kind of charm but it's truly something that warms the soul even on the cold days.
If you couldn't tell, Dartmouth won me over on winter. Watch it win you over too! If you're an incoming or prospective student, remember to take full advantage of these opportunities because they are singular and wonderful and make the long hours spent studying worth the best study break. Hope you're all keeping warm and well, and see you again soon!
