I'm Kalina, a '27 from Sofia, Bulgaria. I love books (I love reading and writing them), and I particularly love fantasy (i.e., I'm an expert on Middle Earth and Hogwarts studies). I'm fascinated by the human brain and the real-world magic of science. I also love hiking, bird-watching, climbing, and em dashes.
Instead of taking a normal Writing 5 course, I decided to fulfill my first-year writing requirement by taking HUM 1. This course helped me strengthen my relationship to literature and writing. It changed the way in which I thought about classics, both books and movies (we saw Wall-E, by the way). And it also changed the way I thought about academic writing and literary criticism. A third of the course was made up of lectures by professors from different departments, while the other two thirds were discussions with a single professor and a small group of 15 students.
Intro to Neuroscience was the first course I was truly excited about. It wasn't an easy course; we had a weekly quiz of ten to thirteen questions covering the lectures from the past few days, but it was very interesting and also very funny (Professor Winter's humor is legendary). We learned about the human brain at the level of individual cells. We also studied it at the level of different systems, from the olfactory system to the parasympathetic nervous system. And last, we learned about cognition: learning, attention, language. We saw a real human brain with formaldehyde dripping from it. We saw a real sheep's brain. And a rat's brain. And we pocked each other with paper clips to determine the sensitivity of our touch receptors.
Journalism with Professor Alexis Jetter was an enjoyable class, sometimes challenging but very satisfying. We covered a lot of US history through the lens of the media, and we started every class with a discussion of the current news and events (thanks to these discussions, I feel like a real adult now—not so lost when the conversation turns toward politics). Several guest lecturers—from former students of Professor Jetter who're now journalists to a New York Times war correspondent—brought us real stories from the field. In the middle of the term, each of us had to find someone over 30 years old in the Upper Valley, spend a day with them, and write a profile.
SummerSofia, Bulgaria
I'm spending my first summer back home, helping my family care for my newborn sister. In my free time (changing diapers takes a lot of time!), I'm doing research for the cognitive neuroscience lab FINN Lab, preparing for my classes in the fall, and working on a new book.
Computational Neuroscience with Professor Richard Granger is a multidisciplinary course taught by a multidisciplinary professor and designed for multidisciplinary thinkers. The class covered brain anatomy and physiology and the biology of learning; it covered linear algebra and the architectures and characteristics of several neural networks. Last, we had a module on "brain engineering"—how some brain circuits function and how we can get inspired by them as engineers.
The first focus of Discrete Math for Computer Science was learning to think like a mathematician: how do we use logic to find proofs to problems and our solutions? Next, we learned how to apply this thinking in computer science contexts — how do you prove that a recursive program works? How do you prove what its run-time is going to be? These were the kind of skills we were building in preparation for the next course in the theoretical computer science sequence: Algorithms. Before we can build algorithms, we need to know how to think about the steps we need to take to solve problems with the rigor of mathematical logic.
This term I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and fill out of my distributive requirements with a government class. Taught by Professor Steven Simon, America and the Middle East was one of the most interesting classes I've taken at Dartmouth. The class covered the evolution of US foreign policy toward the Middle East from the early days of the Republic to modern times. The books and papers we were assigned to read for each class were complemented by Professor Simon's lectures (his storytelling style made his class one of the few classes with 2-hour-long lectures that keep my attention till the very end), and he shared fascinating anecdotes from his work and trips.
SummerHanover, NH
I am spending my sophomore summer on campus, doing full-time research at the FINN Lab (Functional Imaging and Naturalistic Neuroscience Lab). This summer I get to do a little bit of programming, stimuli writing, and data analysis and run a pilot study that will pave the way for a bigger neuro-imaging experiment. I am also serving as the house manager of Alpha Theta Gender Inclusive Greek House. I'm still deciding which is more challenging: navigating academia or the intricacies of taking care of an actual house. ;)
It's been more than two years since the time when I was working on my college applications, the summer before my senior year in high school. After you get in (I knew early on where I had gotten in because I applied Early Decision to Dartmouth) and you finally relax—"You made it!"—under the constant praises from friends, family, and college counselors, you easily forget about that time. The tiring process of writing one essay after another and doubting yourself (do I even have a chance for this school?) slips away from your mind and memory.
Until you find yourself entering a similar state of mind two years later…
I've been thinking about the fluctuations in my mindset, ever since I got into Dartmouth, and how it connects to my stress levels and my ability to enjoy my time here. After some soul-searching and thought examination, I circled back to something I heard when preparing to apply to college: "College is just a bridge, not the final goal."
A view of the Connecticut River from our campus's beloved Pine Park.
The mentor who told me this was talking about extracurricular activities and application essays. He didn't want his mentees to take up activities, sign up for classes, and approach their college essays with the mindset of: "what do I do to get into a good school?"
College is just a bridge to take you from where you are now to where you want to be next. It isn't the final goal.
Coming to campus, I quickly plunged myself into a pool of expectations: everyone around me is incredibly successful and strives to be even more incredibly successful, pursuing internships, job openings, and graduate schools. I should be living up to those standards. Not knowing any better, I decided to swim in this pool of expectations, which mentally weighed the future potential of the classes I was taking and the activities I was doing… I did not (successfully) pursue any activities at Dartmouth with the explicit goal of landing a future opportunity that would equate to "incredible success" (extrinsic motivation doesn't really work on me). But I kept constantly worrying if the things I did enjoy doing were enough.
The worrying stopped when I remembered this piece of advice from my college-application era: "College is a bridge, not the final goal."
Any future opportunity is just a bridge, I realized. A bridge to something I genuinely care about, a bridge to my true goals. Now life feels better :) Hopefully, your application-writing feels better, too.
When I first arrived on campus, upper-level students eased my fears with their confidence and care. When invited to apply as a Dartmouth Bound Leader, I jumped at the chance to do the same to students starting their own college journeys.
Thinking about studying abroad? Seriously, you should! Beijing has been one of the highlights of my Dartmouth experience so far. Keep reading to hear about my trip to the iconic Great Wall!
Dartmouth is no stranger to a variety of student-run full-year performance groups in dance, a cappella, improv, and comedy. Sophomore summer is particularly special, as most of these groups allow sophomores to audition and join just for the summer.
While the Hanover community is always strong and thriving, it's hard to imagine what it's like when you are thousands of miles away from The Green. Read on to learn about my Dartmouth life in Rome, and the community within Dartmouth while abroad.
