Gabriel Gilbert

A lot of my friends live in the first-year dorms French and Judge, both of which are located just a few steps from the Connecticut River. 

I miss the river because that's where my friends and I would go sometimes just to relax when it wasn’t beyond freezing. There is nothing as stress-relieving as a vibe session on the shoreline. This picture is actually from something I described in one of my earliest posts, where my friends Pete, Azariah, and I all went canoeing and fishing at a pond almost an hour off-campus. If we were on campus, we would probably be kayaking or canoeing right now.

Right before we left campus, my friends and I made a trip across the river to the full-size King Arthur Flour store (big KAF, as opposed to regular KAF which is in the library and where my friends and I get our caffeine fix for long grind sessions). 

We loved it so much and had planned on going all the time this term…so yeah, you could say I miss my double shot + chocolate milk with light ice. And my iced cider. And the occasional drink-of-the-month. And brie and apple sandwiches that always seem to be out of stock when I want them for lunch.

KAF, I miss you.

One of the highlights of my winter term was seeing my friend Caitlin Wanic (whom I actually met after she won right before I left campus) win Dartmouth Idol, Dartmouth’s annual singing competition. The talent was incredible across the board, and the Sesame Street theme was a flavor of childhood nostalgia I haven’t tasted in a while. 

And yes - I did sing along.

Taught by Professor Stanford, this is a class all about language and how we make the sounds that constitute every language on earth. As part of a long-term research project, I’ll be looking at my mom’s native language of Waray with two of my friends over the course of the term. It’s not a language I know, and there’s barely any research online, which is a great example of Dartmouth allowing us to do some really novel research as part of the course curriculum. I will definitely have more to say about this as time goes on, but so far I’ve recorded my own voice to notice the tiniest details about my pronunciation that relate to human anatomy, my own accent of English (everyone has one!), and little quirks about the languages I heard growing up that influenced how I talk! As someone who’s not a STEM major, this is a perfect mix of science and culture, and I’m loving every bit.

Taught by Professor Whaley, this is a class about ancient literature, including the Bible, and the literary depiction of apocalypse. We’re looking at how history and apocalyptic texts are married, and how humanity really loves the genre of apocalyptic literature. It’s a really interesting mix of classical history, religion, and the language of ancient Greece. So far, I’ve learned the Greek alphabet and read a book of the Bible in two languages. Even though it’s virtual, class discussions are colorful, and involve every one of the dozen of us in the class — I already know a lot of my classmates by name and their voice, even though we’ve only met on Zoom. Just another part of the Dartmouth Difference.

Taught by Professor Christesen, this is a class all about the colorful history of ancient Greece. When I was younger, I loved Percy Jackson and the movie Troy. I bet a bunch of you guys have heard about 300. Even though I studied classics in high school, this is the first class I’ve had that is truly deep-diving into ancient Greece. The lectures are funny and not boring in the slightest, which is hard to believe unless you’ve had a good professor (go Dartmouth!) Even the quizzes are really engaging, and ask for us to give our own questions that are immediately answered by our professor within a few days. I will most definitely be taking more Classics classes in the future because of my experience so far, and I'm just a week in.