Hi everyone! I'm Julia from Seattle, WA. Reading this blog during my junior and senior years of high school helped me to envision myself on this campus, so this all feels very full-circle. I'm studying QSS, Education, French, and Religion (I know, it's a lot at the moment!). I love cooking/food, watching old Modern Family episodes (my favorite character is Mitch), and finding cozy places to study on campus. Talk to you soon!
This class served as a great introduction to the Quantitative Social Science department. My favorite part of class was working with real-world data in our problem sets each week. I also adored my professor, Elsa Voytas. It was her first term as a professor here, and she was constantly eager to answer any questions you might have. I'm really looking forward to taking more QSS classes in the future!
I loved this class and especially my professor, Michele Tine. My favorite part of the course was watching the "Up!" documentary series as a class. The episodes began with a cohort of children at age 7, and has continued to follow them throughout their adulthood. We got to analyze the children's decisions and lifestyles in the context of what we were learning about, culminating with a paper highlighting one of the cohort members.
Paris and Literature and Film was the last part of my first-year writing experience. Professor Kane did a great job of bringing a variety of sources into our classroom discussions (books, movies, articles, etc.) which made the course very engaging. Plus, it was so much fun to learn about France before visiting in 25W!
Data Visualization was one of the best classes I've taken at Dartmouth so far. Professor Cooper was very engaging, and I learned that I really LOVE making data meaningful and accessible. I'm even taking Professor Cooper's Advanced Data Visualization in the winter to continue building on my skills.
Having never taken a Geography class before, I had no idea what to expect from Professor Alvarez León's course. By the end of the term, I was obsessed with all of the topics of the course. We spent the majority of the time talking about space versus place, and we constantly had fun group activities in class. Plus, I took the class with my godsister (a '28) which was a dream come true!
This winter, I took Geography 4: Introduction to Geospatial Thinking. I ended up in the class on a whim—during the first week of the term, my god sister said she really was liking it so I switched into it at the end of our course add-drop period. To be honest, I was a little afraid to take a geography class. I had no idea what to expect, and my country-naming abilities are, let's just say, poor.
The two themes from the beginning of our class that stood out to me the most were space and place. How are these two terms different? How do we define place? Why might we be living in a space-based era more than ever?
As the term continued on, I started to think about how people define home, too. And, in the midst of all of this, I started to realize that Dartmouth may fit my definition of home. So, for my final paper, I decided to explore this very sentiment. While I won't get into the data collection aspects (I ended up surveying around 30 students on how they define home), I want to share a paragraph that sums up my motivation to tackle this project at all. Because, in its essence, I think it perfectly shows what I try to explain through these blog posts and my campus tours. Dartmouth stands out because of our deep sense of place. So much so that a girl who spent the first 18 years of her life in Seattle calls this campus "home."
This fall, I went to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge with a Dartmouth Outing Club trip. My parents were visiting me for the weekend, too, and thus they came along to dinner. Once seated, I decided that it was fitting that, like on any Dartmouth Outing Club trip, everyone went around the table and introduced themselves. As always, I began with explaining the prompts: "Say your name, your pronouns if you're comfortable, and where you're from or where you call home." When it was my dad's turn to answer the questions, I was completely caught off guard by his response. "While I went to high school in South Carolina," he said, "I really do consider Dartmouth and New Hampshire to be my home." I was taken aback: it was the first time that any student had responded that Dartmouth was their home, much less an alum who graduated in 1997. As the months went on, I never forgot about what my dad had said that night. Over time, I began to realize that I saw Dartmouth in the same light as him.
A photo from this very dinner! Addy and I had led the trip together.
I always like to say that, at this point in my Dartmouth career, I am always homesick. While I'm in Hanover, I miss Seattle. And when I'm at my parents' house, all I want is to be back with my friends here. While you're considering your acceptances, Class of 2029, think about whether you could find a sense of home on each school's campus. Because, in short, I cannot express to you how lovely this feeling is.
One of my greatest privileges at Dartmouth has been learning from Professor Ed. Miller of the History and Asian Studies departments. Read on to learn more about why he is my favorite professor!
The Sri Lankan New Year falls on the 13th and 14th of April, a time for plenty of celebrations and family time. At Dartmouth, I keep these traditions with my friends and celebrate a part of home every year!
Dartmouth offers students incredible opportunities during breaks through the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) trips. Options vary widely, from cozy cabin retreats with friends to adventurous climbing expeditions under starry skies.
