Hello, and welcome to my corner of the woods! I'm Lauren, a '27 from Munger, Michigan. On campus, I enjoy writing sports for The Dartmouth, going on as many DOC trips as I can, and hanging out with my friends. I also love Woccoming, doing the daily NYT mini crossword, and paddling!
I took this class as part of Dartmouth's first year writing requirement. We read a pro cyclist's life narrative, discussed research papers on controversial topics in sports, and wrote our own papers on a contentious sports technology of our choice. I really enjoyed this course's emphasis on discussion, and the small class size!
This was my first class in the classics department, which was super exciting as a classical studies major! We learned about the ancient Olympics and the connections between athletics and other aspects of ancient Greek society. I loved the final project in this class, which involved creating an argument about how the ancient pentathlon was scored!
To conclude my language requirement, I took Latin 3! This class was super exciting because we began to read ancient texts and poetry. We also took a class trip to the Rauner Special Collections library so we could physically handle and read some manuscripts. And as an added bonus, Latin counts as a prerequisite for my classical studies major!
As a part of my language study abroad in Italy, I also took a class on Italian history and culture! We went on field trips to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, participated in walking tours of Rome, and watched a lot of great cinema in this class! I loved it so much that I decided to minor in Italian.
This class, in addition to being a pre-requisite for my major, was super interesting! I loved learning about archaeology through hands-on projects and lectures that felt like TED Talks.
My favorite course on my Italian LSA+ in Rome is focused on Italian literature, which we are studying in a reverse-chronological order! It has been incredibly fun to see different topics and styles evolve over time and to learn from the works of the best writers.
There's an important part of my Dartmouth experience that I realized I've never really written about for my blog: being a first-generation college student.
You might be wondering—what does that term even mean? "First-generation" refers to students whose parents did not graduate from a four-year college. That means I'll be the first in my immediate family to earn a college degree, something I'm incredibly proud of! But being first-gen isn't just a label, it's been an essential element of my college experience.
Coming to Hanover as a first-generation student from a rural area definitely required a few adjustments. On top of getting used to Dartmouth's workload and pace, I had to learn everything from how to fill out financial aid forms to where to buy twin XL bedding to what to wear to a networking event. At times, college felt like an entirely different world to what I was used to.
Last year, I went sledding a few times with some first-generation friends. For some of them, it was their first time seeing snow!
That sense of unfamiliarity was daunting, but it became much easier to manage once I connected with theFirst Generation Office(FGO) here on campus! Dartmouth's FGO started reaching out to welcome me before I even came to campus, but I didn't take full advantage of their support until a couple of weeks into my first-year fall.
I clicked into their email and saw a friendly note followed by links to a wealth of information and resources, including dedicated FGO tutoring and a gathering space for the community. It was at that point that I began to feel more like I belonged on campus, and that I wasn't navigating college alone anymore.
In addition to academic support, the FGO offers a variety of events and resources for first-generation students and their families to feel more at home on campus. Although I'm off-campus this term, I look forward to the weekly FGO email newsletter so that I can keep up with what's happening back on campus!
Admittedly, I'm not the most involved in the first-gen community at Dartmouth. But when I do go to a FGO event, like a community dinner, I always feel an immediate sense of belonging. There's something incredibly powerful about being surrounded by other people who just get it—who understand how much it took to make it here.
During Dimensions, I was able to connect with some other first-generation students (and also some other lovely friends)!
As I prepare to head back to campus, I'm looking forward to getting more involved. I'd love to attend a FGO event and share that experience with you all on my blog! Being first-gen doesn't define me, but it is important to me. While the journey has definitely had its challenges, I am proud to be a part of this community of hardworking, kind, and resilient students!
If you want to learn more about Dartmouth's FGO, or the first-generation community in general in Hanover, I encourage you to check out some posts from my fellow bloggers! Read about Oscar's First-Year Student Enrichment Program (FYSEP) experiencehere, or about Arianna's awesome job at the FGOhere!
While many people might associate cold, long, snowy winters with hardship, I've found that winter at Dartmouth is full of potential to be just as fun as other seasons.
