Hi! My name is Jack and I am a Sophomore at Dartmouth. I currently plan to major in sociology modified with anthropology, all with a human-centered design minor. Outside of class, I enjoy performing and I'm currently involved in both a student dance group and acapella. I love hiking and running outdoors and have already explored a lot of Dartmouth's surrounding trails. I am also involved in Greek Life, the Student and Presidential Committee for Sexual Assault, and the Inter Fraternity Council.
This class was an overview on demographic trends across the world, and it's the course that got me interested in my current academic focus! I enjoyed the fact that this class was discussion based, so I was able to engage in conversations about different social factors and relationships that affect population changes in global societies.
I never thought I'd enjoy doing theater online but this class fully exceeded all expectations I had in mind. I was able to learn new techniques and was forced to think about aspects of performance that I never had to worry about when on stage. The technological stage was definitely an interesting hurdle, but it strengthened my abilities as a performer overall.
Beside it being my first in-person class at Dartmouth, I have enjoyed the case-based structure of this course. Professor Roebuck delivers the content in small units of environmental health problems, which are all applicable to specific cases and situations. This makes the material extremely interesting and thought-provoking, leading to an incredible class.
SummerNew York, NY
I spent my summer interning for a theater education company that offered technical skill sessions to teenagers, all taught by industry professionals. I learned a lot more about the ins and outs of the theater industry, due to the immersive setting of the position.
I originally took this class to fulfill my lab distributive requirement, but it ended up proving to be a super interesting course! I have always been fascinated by storms and weather, so learning the processes behind these phenomena and patterns was deeply interesting for me. While I am not planning on studying Earth sciences any further, this specific course was memorable for all the good reasons!
This class was a constant reminder of my love for sociology. Professor Kim was a genuine, kind, excellent professor and lecturer, and all of the material was deeply interesting. Some past classes that are reading-heavy have fallen short in finding invigorating readings that I was actively excited to explore, and I enjoyed every single article and discussion for this course. Exploring contemporary theorists' works, this class was a 10/10.
Hello everyone! The term has been pretty intense the past few weeks, and I've found myself not having enough time to relax and reflect as much as I had hoped. There's just so much happening here and I'm always running to the next class, meeting, practice, or event. I still feel good about everything, because I'm actively enjoying everything that I'm using my time for; it would be nice to just have a few more hours in each day.
The largest development in my life has definitely been my entrance into Greek Life at Dartmouth. Freshmen aren't allowed to rush, so the majority of students that want to be affiliated end up rushing their sophomore fall. Rush is a long, extensive, tiring process. This year was particularly exhausting because we only had a few weeks to get acquainted with the different houses, since all fraternities were closed for the entire past year. Eight weeks into the term, having now finished the rush process, I thought I'd reflect on it as a recently-affiliated member of a fraternity.
As I said before, rush was exhausting. For five weeks, I'd spend large portions of my days going to different houses, getting meals with brothers, and using as much free time as possible to try and get a different feel for the houses. While it was a big commitment and a major use of my energy, I honestly feel positively about the process as a whole. For fraternities, rush just feels like making friends. All of the meals and events were opportunities to meet new people and get to know them on a personal basis. As a social person, I loved having this chance. Last year, the '24s were pretty isolated as a class, with most upperclassmen off campus. Because of this, I came into my sophomore year with only a handful of friends or connections with '22s or '23s. Rush has helped me get to know many more people from these upper classes, and it feels so refreshing to have so many new individuals in my life. This is why, while it is exhausting to try and meet thirteen houses in five weeks, it's also an incredible opportunity and why I had a very positive experience.
If I had gone to any other school, I never would have rushed. I am not the regular frat guy: I'm a gay sociology major that likes to sing and dance in his free time. The idea of being in a stereotypical fraternity actively terrifies me. However, I've found that Dartmouth's Greek scene, while far from perfect, is extremely unique in its diversity. Because Hanover is a small town with no real nightlife scene, all social spaces for student fun are on campus. This means that students are incredibly reliant on Greek houses to create positive, fun spaces for all students, because there are simply far fewer alternative options. This has thus led to a uniquely diverse population inside of the Greek system, which is exciting. In just my fraternity, there are many athletes from a few different teams, many guys in my acapella group, 6+ LGBTQ individuals in my rush class alone, insanely talented coders, as well as people from across the country and world. Inside of just one space, there's such a broad array of individuals and I'm consistently realizing how glad I am to have rushed.
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!
