Hi, my name is Liliana (or Lili, for short) and I'm a '26 from Hawaiʻi! On campus, I can be found performing with my dance troupe, hanging out with friends, and testing out food hacks at Foco. I also love collectible stickers, iced matcha with peppermint syrup, cute dogs on the streets of Hanover, and ultra-specific Spotify playlists. Excited to share my Dartmouth journey with you all! :)
One of my goals for this term is to be more reflective - in an attempt to start on this, I present you all with a review of my second winter term on campus. With chilly winter days, I made some wonderful memories and learned a lot!
Winter term begins right after New Year's Day- this year, we began classes bright and early on January 3rd! My three classes met back to back: the first at 8:50am, the second at 10:10am, and the third at 11:30am. This schedule was certainly busy, but it felt good to have my classes grouped together - even if I ended up being hangry by my third class. Another plus was that my classes met on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, leaving the other days of the week to do work and/or enjoy free time!
A really fun memory from this term was dancing with Ujima Dance Troupe, aka Uji! Usually, we perform two or three shows a term - this term, we had two! Our first show was Baby Show, designed to celebrate our newest members of the team and showcase their talents. This term, I held the position of Show Chair, meaning I cut and spliced together music for the shows, edited rough footage for the YouTube channel, and brainstormed themes and costumes. Although this role was a lot of work, it was very rewarding and I feel that I really got to contribute to the team.
The theme was Wild West, hence the outfits!
Since I don't have a car on campus, it's not often that I venture out of Hanover - especially when there's snow on the ground and ice on the roads. In light of this, I took winter term as an opportunity to explore more places in and around Hanover and Dartmouth's campus. The Hood Museum of Art is not often on my radar as a busy student, but a few friends and I decided to take a walk around the exhibitions as a nice study break. I've always been interested in art and museums, so this was not only relaxing but fascinating! The museum has a very special tranquility to it, especially if you visit at an off-time when it's not too busy.
I took this photo of my friend Sally while she observed the artwork!
Another instance of this was Frost Lights, which takes place by Shattuck Observatory on campus! This event was previously called BEMA lights - but the premise is the same. The entire area is decked out with gorgeous lights, including (but not limited to) lanterns, streamers, lighted picture frames, lighted pathways, and even a disco ball! I attended with my friends, and I swear it was colder this year than last year. I'm not usually one to put a scarf on, but for Frost Lights, I simply had to!
My friend and I at Frost Lights!
Finally, as an update to my last post about my snowboarding progress - I successfully learned how to stand up…but actually making the turns is a whole other issue. Despite my frequent falls and fears of tailbone fractures, I had a wonderful time taking lessons at the Dartmouth Skiway! In future winter terms to come, I hope to find more opportunities to practice snowsports in my free time. Now that I've tried both skiing and snowboarding, the possibilities are endless.
Our snowboarding class after the last day of lessons!
And with that, another term has been completed at Dartmouth! It's crazy to think that I've now completed five terms. After this coming spring, my Dartmouth experience will be halfway over! There is so much to learn and enjoy in each season here, and I look forward to doing even more in this upcoming term. Updates from spring coming: very soon. :-). Until next time!
