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, the end to my Dartmouth career feels closer than ever: I have officially wrapped up my junior year! As I finished my first spring term on campus ever, I thought a lot about how I wanted to spend my summer. The summer before you start senior year tends to be one where Dartmouth students choose to take an off-term (aka they're not enrolled and taking classes as per their individual D-Plans) and get internships, apprenticeships, or another kind of summer job. In my case, I am doing two pretty big things this summer: I am working as a Senior Fellow in the Office of Admissions (visit me in McNutt!) and I am beginning to write my honors thesis for my Linguistics major. Accordingly, I'm choosing to spend my off-term in cozy Hanover while the '24s jump headfirst into their sophomore summer, and frankly? I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks to Mariah '23 for snapping this picture because I didn't trust myself to bring my phone on-board while I learned the proper way to paddle. The Connecticut is just gorgeous this time of year!
Working as a Senior Fellow means that I get to work closely with Dartmouth's Admissions team all the while providing perspective as a current student. Staying in Hanover means I get to begin all of that work this summer, which I'm super excited about. As to how that relates to this blog, it means that I get to shed just a little more insight from behind the scenes—I'm really excited about applying the lessons I learn here in the Admissions office to my posts and how I contextualize my own Dartmouth experience for all of you reading. If you run into me on the Green or somewhere else on campus this summer as you wander around Hanover, please say hi!
At Dartmouth, getting honors in your major usually means creating an honors project. This looks different across the various disciplines and departments we have here, but in the Linguistics department, an honors project is an undergraduate thesis. So to complete my Linguistics major, I plan on writing a thesis about the Hawaiian language, which I've been learning and researching in different ways since I was a first-year. Because Linguistics is a social science, this thesis will involve data collection, both quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis, and positing arguments that apply concepts in Linguistics broadly to explain the specific nuances of Hawaiian grammar. For me, writing a thesis will take the form of two back-to-back classes (with credit!) over the next fall and winter terms where I'll formally be researching and writing, respectively. I'll ultimately present my thesis to the department around the end of my senior year (which means the end of this next year—how am I this old already?).
While that might definitely sound intimidating, I feel really empowered to undertake this project because of how well I've gotten to know the Linguistics department and how prepared I feel after taking the several courses I have. I've taken classes with the vast majority of the Linguistics professors, and have worked closely on different projects with my current thesis advisor since my sophomore year. That kind of longstanding support from faculty has definitely been the norm for me at Dartmouth, and being on campus provides me with access to in-person meetings with them, access to the vast collection of books and other resources in our libraries, and just generally the academic confidence that being on Dartmouth's campus seems to give me.
Had to snap a quick post-hike selfie at Wright Mountain before we left. When I'm not working, this is pretty much the vibe.
So yes, I am crashing the class of 2024's sophomore summer as a soon-to-be senior and spending this summer on campus. Though it's different to not be surrounded by my classmates as was the case for my own sophomore summer, it's also refreshing to be able to meet more of the incredible folks that make up the sophomore class. You'll be hearing a lot more from me over the next couple months: stay tuned and until next time.
This fall, Dartmouth provided me with incredible opportunities to get involved in politics. I registered as a New Hampshire voter, joined civic organizations, canvassed, and more! Read on to follow my journey leading up to Election Day!
