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.
Almost a year since my last time on campus, I was able to return to campus for the winter term along with a bunch of my friends. While on campus, I've been able to study in some of my favorite spots again, eat from my favorite Hanover restaurants, and take total advantage of the winter weather in order to finally learn how to ski. These were all such essential Dartmouth things that I'd forgotten how much they factor into what I think of as my college experience, but the fact that this winter term happened in the context of a global pandemic meant that I got to re-contextualize a lot of the little things and focus on them -- more often than not, it's the little stuff that brings the best vibes.
This term was definitely different than those that made up my first year at Dartmouth. With social distancing guidelines, a lot of the indoor spaces on campus became much less populated, which made for some amazingly quiet spaces for studying. I didn't have the Courtyard Cafe (which we informally refer to as "the Hop") as a dining hall, but all of my favorite items from the Hop made a re-appearance as part of the late night experience in the Class of 1953 Commons (or Foco for short -- late night is a meal period after dinner where Dartmouth Dining pulls out a bunch of comfort food and late night-oriented food items, which is amazing if you've been studying all night!). I couldn't get together with all of my friends indoors, so instead we'd go into the outdoors, on walks around our pretty little campus or into town to get boba (a new place opened since the last time I was in Hanover, which honestly is incredible and I can't recommend enough...). COVID-19 has us rethink the best way to enjoy our time together at college, and honestly I'd say we matched the energy pretty 1:1.
Winter reminded me that how and where you spend your time really, really matters. I learned that lesson in high school and dedicated myself to the things I loved and could never be overwhelmed because even when things piled up, I was doing what I truly wanted to do. As with many things, being at college really encouraged to try different experiences and engage myself as much as possible, and that's a fantastic way to do college. But it becomes really important as you find yourself gravitating towards different things to consider how best to budget your own energy. With all of the ramifications of the pandemic and with being on campus again, I made the conscious decision to spend my energy on the things that I knew I could manage from my dorm room and involved myself with activities that I trusted wouldn't leave me tooexhausted. I won't lie -- skiing requires some exertion -- but it's all about finding that balance, and winter term re-taught me how to find it.
I pass this beautiful building on my way to breakfast and coffee everyday, can you imagine a better backdrop for (Zoom) college?
Additionally, the best part about college really couldn't be more about finding a solid friend group for me, and I'm again thankful to Dartmouth and the Native American Program for fostering such a strong Indigenous community on campus. A lot of us were able to return to campus, which meant that my friends and I got to meet a ton of the first-years (the '24s!) that we would've seen in the fall term under normal circumstances. When I saw a bunch of friends I guess I hadn't seen (outside of Zoom) for almost a year, it almost felt like I'd seen them just yesterday, which really does speak to how many amazing relationships you'll make at Dartmouth when you're involved in communities close to home. Even with a campus changed in order to keep us all as healthy as possible, my favorite communities have kept up through digital programming, guest speakers, and group study sessions, and it's gone a long way.
I suppose my biggest realization going forward, since my college career now feels like it's on double speed, is to try to focus on the little moments and the lowkey aspects of college life that are totally easy to ignore. Can't recommend taking steps to ensure you're preserving your energy during unpredictable circumstances enough! I hope that this post helps demonstrate the kind of attitude that's carried me through my second winter as a Dartmouth student, and can definitely be helpful for those of y'all stressing about college acceptances coming up. As decision day gets closer, and as you begin the process of choosing your own college, know that finding joy in the small things can be such a comfort, especially now. Wish you guys the absolute best, stay healthy, and I'll see you all soon!
Planning on visiting Dartmouth as a prospective student or an interested person wanting to see our beautiful campus? In this post, I share insider tips to ensure your visit is fulfilled!
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!
Coming back from Spring break usually means coming back to an entirely different campus than the one you left in the Winter – but that was not the case this year! Read on to hear more...
