Hello! My name's Griselda Chavez & I am a second-year student from Southern California. I am majoring in Economics modified with Public Policy and double minoring in Human-Centered Design and Environmental Science. At Dartmouth, I have been involved with Dartmouth's Center for Social Impact, the Rockefeller Center, the Dartmouth, and People of Color Outdoors (POCO). Stay tuned to learn more about what Dartmouth has to offer and how as a first-generation college student I have navigated college.
Academic Program
Economics Modified w/ Public Policy, Human-Centered Design, Environmental Science
Although the topic and issues were not completely new to me, I was able to learn more about why current immigration policies existed and the history behind several immigration policies. I absolutely loved the class because Professor Kim was passionate about the course, and the numerous readings we were assigned were very insightful and encouraged class discussions.
The course centers on the educational issues of public school systems and how by creating certain policies or programs we can improve schools and use them as a tool to promote social mobility and equity. The students who took the class were always very passionate to discuss and came from a variety of majors and educational backgrounds, thus enriching class discussions. Furthermore, I loved that Professor Wheelan encouraged us throughout the entire term to "think outside of the box" and inspired us to continue pushing for more change.
During the spring term, I was very confused as to what major I wanted to pursue and decided to give economics an opportunity, never expecting that I would enjoy it. Professor Petre did an amazing job of demonstrating how economics could and is used for social issues like environmentalism, minimum wage, and discrimination. Learning about the concepts and employing them was very important to me because I felt like I could learn how to best help communities.
Each January, my family celebrates Día de Reyes (aka Three Kings Day). Three Kings Day is commonly celebrated in Mexico and numerous other countries with ties to Catholicism to honor the birth of Jesus. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to enjoy the festivities back in California. Therefore, this year, I decided to bring the festivities to Hanover and celebrate with friends who have become family.
In California, we would gather with cousins and split amongst our family a rosca de reyes, a sweet bread shaped as a wreath to symbolize a crown for the kings. Our kitchens would be chaotic, and the house would smell like hot chocolate and freshly baked bread. The tradition is to hide small figurines of baby Jesus inside the bread, and after everyone cuts their slice, we find out who has the hidden figurines. If someone has a figurine, they have to provide tamales for the following celebration on February 2nd!
Because I would miss the day with my family, my godfather made a rosca for my friends and me to celebrate at Dartmouth. It was quite large—the length of a checked-in luggage! Because our winter quarter usually starts before Día de Reyes, several friends had not been able to eat a rosca since their senior year of high school. Therefore, I invited several of my Latine friends to enjoy the bread with some Oaxacan hot chocolate that I also brought from home. The apartment smelled like chocolate. In addition, a friend brought tamales de mole, so we all had some good food with even better company!
We missed a couple of people in this picture, but here we are after cutting into the rosca!
It was an incredibly heart-warming moment for me. Returning to the snow and cold can be difficult, so sharing this moment with friends at the beginning of the term set a positive omen. This was also all possible because I share an on-campus North Park Senior Apartment. Therefore, I hope to host many more events this winter that bring us all together.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
