Welcome to my page, I am a '27 from central New Hampshire! I came to Dartmouth for the liberal arts curriculum, so I plan to explore the academic disciplines before deciding what to focus on. I am currently looking at environmental science and religion. In addition to blogging, I work as an Interfaith Trip Fellow with the Tucker Center for Spiritual and Ethical Life. I enjoy mountain biking, running, skiing, singing, and drawing.
Academic Program
Intended: pre-health, anthropology, environmental studies, and religion.
This discussion and reading-based class was incredible and relevant! Content ranged from the historical impact of the printing press to AI in the workforce and transhumanism, and all of the topics were grounded in religion and some of the frameworks religion provides. I pondered on ideas from this class all the time.
I was captivated by the first class meeting of the term reading Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' and eventually chose to focus on it for my research paper at the end of the term. All of the readings captivated my attention, however, Kafka, Han's 'The Vegetarian', and Kristeva were the authors that made the biggest impression on me. The class discussions resulted in wonderful insights relevant to humanity at a macro level. My favorite aspect was our professor instructing us to focus on the ideas before picking apart the writing style.
This class made me think about the bigger picture of health in a systems focus. Ultimately this class helped me realize that there are a lot of structural health system challenges in the U.S. and around the world. I particularly liked learning about the histories and anthropological side of things. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were my favorite topic in the class because the frameworks are very limited, so some do not receive enough focus and funding.
My Spanish language study abroad was wonderful. In addition to improving my Spanish proficiency, I learned a lot about the culture and history of Spain- especially in the autonomous community (region) of Cantabria where Santander is located. My favorite class on this trip was literature, every class had a different theme relevant to the history and culture of Spain and this was explored with movies, videos, and readings that resulted in some great insights during class discussion. The homestay aspect and excursions bolstered the conversational and cultural aspects of the LSA.
This class sits at the center of the two interests that I have chosen for my modified major, anthropology and environmental studies. There are a few reasons I love this class. First and foremost, there is a SIP fieldwork aspect to it (I wrote a post about this!) which means I can experience local communities and have a tangible impact. Next, my professor has a wonderful design for the content and structure of the class. Also, I am genuinely excited to learn about the content and perspective this course utilizes by considering the many dimensions of disaster. I particularly like exploring the historical factors that turn a scenario into a disaster, and how that can be prevented.
Strong time management skills are at the forefront of a successful transition to college. However, these skills need to be modified as they generally do not smoothly transfer over in terms of how they were applied in high school. The reason time management is different in college is that schedules are less structured and therefore require a person to have more self-discipline. For example, some classes have attendance as a required aspect of the class and others do not, so it is your choice if you want to reap the benefits of showing up to your classes.
I remember thinking that three courses would be a walk in the park given that I have a college background, but I quickly realized that would not be the case!
Important Aspects to Consider for Time Management:
Varying Class Structure: some courses put most of the grade weight on exams, while others put more weight on regular assignments or projects. This means if you are taking multiple 'types' of classes will likely be studying for an exam at the same time you are writing an essay or creating a project.
Sleeping is important!! In high school, I witnessed some wild sleep habits, but college quickly exposed me to even more radical habits. For people who are getting less sleep than they biologically should be, from my observations there are frequently two things linked to this, they are overcommitted to some aspect of college or they procrastinate their work.
Eating: sometimes it is challenging to get all 3 meals in a day, especially if it will take time to walk to that meal. I have found that breakfast is the most challenging meal to eat consistently, but this certainly is not true for everyone. Eating balanced meals in terms of portions and nutrients can also be challenging sometimes.
Exercise is certainly good to have built into the weekly regimen, but it can also be challenging to keep up if you are not on a sports team and thus not required to do so. When my workload for a week goes up my exercise typically goes down, in part because I do not want to lose sleep.
Social Time is wonderful and certainly helps maintain good morale in the face of a fast-paced academic term. However, like exercise, I am more inclined to have less of this and more sleep and work time.
Jobs are another thing to factor into the busy schedule. Some jobs allow you to get some academic work done at them (desk jobs when no one needs you), but in general, it is another thing to find time for.
Extracurriculars, Campus Activities, and Wellness: There are quite a few centers and organizations on campus, and they have wonderful programs, but they certainly require some time to have a meaningful experience. Activities with the DOC and Student Wellness Center are also great, but require free time!
In summary, different people prioritize what suits them and sometimes there are quite a few considerations to be made.
I also wanted to make a note about class selection since this factors into the chaos of time management. For the first year, selection takes place during orientation week and around final exams (to choose winter courses). Course selection also happens with a lottery which means that if more people want to take the class than there are spots, you may not get the one you want, which requires flexibility and backup options. Check out Nathan's post for more on 'First-Year Flexibility'
One of the staple characteristics of the D-Plan is the off-term, a term in which you are not taking classes! Most students at Dartmouth will take at least one off-term, and this winter happens to be my turn! What will I be doing?
Are you artistically inclined? Are you not artistically inclined but still love making art? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Dartmouth Donald Claflin Jewelry Studio is for you!
It's hard to believe that it has been a year since I wrote my first end-of-fall-term reflection. It felt like only yesterday that I stepped into my dorm room this September, eager to reunite with my friends.
