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.
Enough studying. Do you want to be creative? Well, the Donald Claflin Jewelry Studio has got you covered. The jewelry studio was a little difficult to find, hidden behind a few doors on the third floor of the Visual Arts Center, but it's nevertheless a little hidden gem on campus. Whether you need a thoughtful birthday present for a friend or a pair of earrings for yourself (my personal favorite jewelry item to make/wear), the jewelry studio is the place to go to!
When I went to the jewelry studio a few weeks ago, I wanted to make a pair of earrings. I had already come up with a design, but I needed to find someone to help me build it!
The jewelry studio is full of amazing students who are more than happy to help you turn your idea into reality. They taught me how to bend the wire into a nice loop and attach it to a little silver chain. They also showed me where the beads were and hacks about how to make them stay on the wire. The coolest thing of all is that their assistance and wisdom is free.
Any Dartmouth student can go to the jewelry studio and learn how to bend metals and make jewelry! You can stay for as long as you want to (while they're open), and you can make as many pieces of jewelry as you want—rings, necklaces, earrings, etc. The only thing I had to pay for was the materials I used (don't worry, I didn't destroy too many pieces of wire).
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
