Welcome to the transition diary from a big, cold Brazilian city to a small, very cold American town! I fell in love with Dartmouth, and I'm sure my first term will expand my love, as there is a lot to enjoy here in the woods: majors and minors, extracurriculars and clubs, many new open doors to a curious mind like mine! This was written to lofi hiphop, which I could listen to all day if I could, so come to me if you want some nice music to study or relax to. Hope you guys like the content!
Every freshman takes writing prerequisites at Dartmouth. This may come in the form of Writing 5, a class covering the basics of academic writing, research and voice, or Writing 2 and 3, which covers the same topics in a slower pace. I am taking the former. Writing 5 is taught in many sessions, each with its own professor and theme. After attending an open house, I fell in love with Professor Deanne Harper and her topic of Choice, 'Pursuing Happiness.' And I could not have made a better choice.
Class starts at 11:30 A.M., with Professor Harper asking us 'What do you guys wanna talk about today?' We naturally start by talking about some interesting things that happened to us. This is a class on happiness, after all. Then, we talk about what we thought about our assigned reading, which comes from this amazing compilation of essays called Pursuing Happiness by Parfiti and Skorczewski. Last week's Monday reading, Stepping off the Hedonic Treadmill by Mochon et al, was a treat. Reading about how routine events such as exercising or going to church can raise our well-being got me thinking. Exercise, religion... you guys see where I'm going.
You can count on the Dalai Lama for a good read :)
I got out of class and went straight into the... library. See, I exercise plenty, and I practice my faith peacefully. What I required now was a good read. Not one I mindlessly read for an assignment. One I actually fancied, one that got my brain running on new ways. The first one I picked up was a discussion on Buddhism by the Dalai Lama. This proved to be the right choice: he talks a lot of happiness, so I accidentaly stumbled upon the source for my first Writing 5 essay.
My second book, which I am currently reading, is Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho (in English, Rabbit Paul) {word play with his portuguese name}. Even though he is from my country I had never read any of his works, and I must say this one caught me by surprise. The story, full of twists, got me in its grasp. I cannot stop reading, and the pages just keep flowing. Meeting my self-assigned quota of 50 pages a day is so easy. I will not go in depth with the book's story, just know that it talks about feelings and a reality many Brazilians face. You should definitely give it a good read.
Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes. Catch it in one of 140 languages!!!
Learning not only for academics, but for life, is the reason I wake up every day excited for my first class. I hope you guys get the same feeling when you come join me!
Even if you're a brilliant writer like Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss, one of our favorite alums), having another pair of eyes look at your paper is indispensable.
It makes sense that our priority is homework, because we came to college to get an education, but I like to say that sometimes “you just have to live a little.”
The HOP runs movies weekly, bringing in anything from big popular movies such as Crazy Rich Asians, to movies by acclaimed filmmakers such as Ulrike Ottinger.
While The College's normal dining options offer a wide variety of awesome meals, it's sometimes nice to dish out a few dollars of your own to get a taste of the incredible food in the area.
With two whole days of no school, we can sleep in, get extra work done, and hang out with friends, a task that can prove overwhelming during the week, given different class schedules and extracurriculars.
Imagine it's the first day of fall term and you walk into your last class to find dimmed lights, flickering candles, soft music, and warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies. This is what I experienced on the first day of "Impact Design."
