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 and I'm looking forward to taking my French skills abroad later this year in Toulouse. 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!
Hi from West Glacier, Montana! As I write this post, I am boarding my Amtrak back to Boston; I wanted to sit down and write these posts before I forget any details. You might ask yourself, "Why are you getting on an Amtrak in Montana?"
I'm on a break trip! The Dartmouth Outing Club sponsors a smattering of student-led trips worldwide throughout the year (that take place between Dartmouth's academic quarters), and I was lucky enough to join seven of my classmates on an epic backpacking adventure to Glacier National Park. The catch is that we only use public transportation, hence the Amtrak! It has been such a great adventure that I feel compelled to write three blog posts about it. I'll start today by discussing the trip's sense of place, but stay tuned for future posts discussing my fellow trippees and how Rails and Trails have made me more excited for the fall term ahead.
When I first entered Dartmouth, I was quickly immersed in conversations about a "sense of place." Having lived in the same place my entire life, I was unfamiliar with establishing a sense of place anywhere other than Seattle. Soon, though, I realized that all Dartmouth students strive to identify a sense of place in New Hampshire, Vermont, and anywhere else they might wander.
Reflecting on my trip to Montana, I am struck by how much my trip leaders strove to explore our sense of place ______ miles away from campus. On the third night at our campsite, I was informed that we were going to a talk. I was tired—a bit worn out from adjusting to hiking more than I had in a long time—and less eager than others to pile into an amphitheater for an hour. But, trying to be a good trippee, I bundled up and sat down for a talk.
Instead of having a simple conversation about the park's history (which would have still been cool), we spent the next hour listening to a local tribal member about his connections to Glacier and the surrounding natural world. I learned much more about the land we lived on for two weeks. I felt more gratitude when I went to bed that night: the only way this trip was possible was through generations of people caring for the land we laid on.
Smiling with our Junior Ranger books directly after the talk!
When I tell people from home that I go to school in New Hampshire, I am often met with a look of shock. You go to school that far from here? How? The truth is, it all comes down to a sense of place. Dartmouth students and faculty pour into understanding and loving the Upper Valley. We are proud of our campus and our natural landscape. Being in Montana made it clear that Dartmouth students are determined to care for any land they cross, no matter how far away they are from campus.
Most students have to go back to college after Thanksgiving to take their finals, but not at Dartmouth! We have a six-week winter break, known as "winterim!" Let me tell you how I spent my winterim!
Applying early to a university can be overwhelming and confusing. As someone who did not apply to Dartmouth through early decision, here are a couple tips that I could have used when thinking about applying early to a school!
