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 equally fascinated by the human brain and storytelling, and I often think about the importance of stories when trying to understand the human mind. 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. ;)
The Dartmouth Outing Club, a diverse club for outdoor adventures, made my first year unforgettable. Back in my first year, I had a rule: one trip a week makes for a good streak. Every weekend, I was somewhere with Cabin and Trail (the sub-club dedicated to hiking and camping), Flora and Fauna, or the Archery Club. The DOC has many sub-clubs!
Sadly, in my sophomore year, I stopped following my rule for a trip a week. I focused on my double major and my research, instead (excuses, Kalina, excuses). This past weekend's Surf Club trip reminded me why I created my trip-a-week rule in the first place—and why I had better start following it again.
Saturday morning, I met my friend Ari (a Surf Club leader, first from right to left in the header image) and two other trippees, Nate and Mason (third and fourth from right to left), at the docks by the Connecticut River. We spent fifteen minutes carrying surfboards and wetsuits up the wooden stairs across the forest to the parking lot, before Michael and Jimmy (also Surf Club leaders, first and second in the header image) showed up with the second van (the DOC owns many vans that students, certified drivers, can use for organized trips). We loaded the cars—surfboards in the minivan, everything else in the big van—and off to Maine we went.
My first day of surfing was marked by what I ended up calling "athletic failure." Steep waves with thin white crests kept breaking on top of me, sending me and my surfboard tumbling to the ocean floor. Despite having tried surfing numerous times before, I could NOT stand up on my board. Nate and Mason, who had never surfed before, quickly learned how to catch the waves at the right moment and how to stand up. I admire them for that.
The hair obscures my face, but I believe this is me, falling (very gracefully!) off my board. Thanks to Jimmy for the photo!
Jimmy, one of the trip leaders, humorously assessed that my problem was psychological. It wasn't due to lack of skill or experience. I just had to visualize it—you catch the wave, you're cruising on it, then you move one leg, then the other, and you stand up. Just visualize it!
Michael, another trip leader, patiently explained to me the problem with my waves (they were too steep and crashed directly on top of me). Ari, my close friend and trip leader, taught us surf etiquette (don't paddle for a wave if someone experienced is already paddling for the same wave).
By late Saturday afternoon, though, I was too tired of my battle with the waves to put their lessons into practice anymore. I built a sand castle instead.
Pasta on the beach! Ari and Michael are missing from this picture because they were driving around town in search of propane.
Later that day, we cooked pasta on the beach (fun fact: we ran out of propane and discovered that as long as you let the pasta soak in hot water, it will eventually cook on its own). We spent the night at a campsite near the beach, where we set up our tent and hammocks. The following morning, Jimmy fried eggs for us, pan directly over the fire (remember, we had no propane for the gas stove).
This is my friend Ari, after I interrupted their early-morning reading session.
Jimmy is frying eggs over the fire.
Then we drove south, to Jenness Beach in New Hampshire, where we enjoyed perfect surfing conditions: no wind, gentle waves, sunshine.
Sunday, I broke my curse! I managed to stand up on my board (for a little... very little). Before driving back to campus, we had burritos and caramel flan—a favorite dessert from my childhood that I could have only after a day of skiing. And now surfing.
The surfing adventure itself—the smell of seaweed that eventually grew on me, my beloved smell of campfire smoke, the sound of crashing waves, and the cheering of friends—is just one of the reasons I'll be reinstating my trip-a-week rule (or a trip every two weeks, eh?).
Michael and Jimmy are tying the boards to the top of the DOC minivan.
The surf trip made me remember something else I was missing, additional to the thrill of adventure: the long drives and conversations, the stories around the breakfast table, the card games before dinner, the shared awe of the sunset sky, and—I'm sure—Ari and Michael's driving around in search of parking and propane… these are the perfect conditions for creating new or strengthening old friendships.
A while ago, I wrote that if I could rewrite my Why Dartmouth essay, I'd probably write about the people I meet at Dartmouth: the inspiring, funny adventurers. Well… don't make me rewrite my Why Dartmouth essay again, because that's still my answer. :)
I expected Japan to be unlike anything I'd ever known—and in many ways, it was. But, somewhere between sipping matcha in Kyoto and wandering temple gardens in Tokyo, I realized something strange: I kept finding little pieces of Dartmouth.
