Hello! My name is Mario and I'm a Dartmouth '28. I am double majoring in government and economics with a concentration in international relations. I love to spend my free time swimming at the Connecticut River or skiing at the Dartmouth Skiway with friends!
German was absolutely one of my favorite courses Freshman Fall. German, like many other languages at Dartmouth, is taught in small, tight-knit classes that help students become comfortable practicing a language while receiving support from their fellow students. This course was incredibly interactive between students and the professor, with activities ranging from role-playing buying a house, to having improvised acted conversation mid-class. If you're looking for a class with a small group of people that's very interactive and fun, you should look no further than GERM 1!
ENGS 12 was an incredibly fun and fulfilling course during Freshman Winter. It consists of learning how the design process works when it's centered on addressing specific human needs. This course teaches you several new skills, such as using Photoshop, video editing, working with foamcore, sewing, and more. It's such a really good course to make new friends through group projects, to learn new skills, and to adopt a new mindset for analyzing your ideas. Specifically, it provides you with the tools to bring your craziest ideas to life!
Weapons of Mass Destruction was my favorite class during Spring Term. Throughout this class, I got a chance to learn the theories behind the use and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Specifically, I studied the origins and taboos surrounding nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Ultimately, I applied my theoretical knowledge to a prospective scenario where I evaluated the likelihood of Saudi Arabia obtaining nuclear weapons. Incredibly fun class with lots of discussions between the professor and the students.
Growth and its Critics was my favorite class during sophomore Fall. In this course, I studied the theories and arguments behind population growth, economic growth, pollution, and technological innovation. The class was taught by Professor Henry Clark—a brilliant and incredibly dedicated professor. I enjoyed the course's focus on current political-economic issues as well as students' abilities to discuss their points of view with the professor and other students. Incredibly insightful and fun class!
My favorite class this Winter term was an introduction to creative writing with New York Times Best Seller Author Prof. Crouch. I had an amazing time during this class. I learned so many things, such as how authors create complex characters and use various writing styles to convey different meanings. We also discussed several interesting works of fiction. The main thing I loved about this class was writing my own short story from beginning to end. I have never written a work of fiction, and doing so this term made me appreciate how much time, work, and dedication go into each book I read. Overall, amazing class!
This spring, I had the opportunity to take ECON 29, an international finance class, and I loved it. The class focused on all aspects of international relations (which I love as a government double major), including trade, the balance of payments, exchange rates, and more. It was a very technical class, but I enjoyed the content a lot. I can say that this class helps me understand what is going on every time I read a financial article in the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times!
I hope you guys are doing well. In today's blog, I want to take you guys through one of my favorite adventures at Dartmouth thus far: my spring break trip to Puerto Rico. Let's get started!
This year, my friends and I decided to plan a short vacation to have fun and relax after an academically challenging winter term at Dartmouth. We decided that there was no better time to go on a trip somewhere than during spring break—a two week interim period between winter and spring term at Dartmouth.
Given this interim break, I decided to go on vacation with a group of friends whom I met through my ski lessons at the Dartmouth Skiway. My friends and I met through a mutual friend who introduced us to each other—my ski instructor, Stephen. Ever since we met, we have become a tight knit group of friends to the point where we have a Friday night tradition of meeting up at my residence hall's common room to play a few rounds of poker—where I always end up losing all my money!
This is us continuing our Friday night tradition of playing poker!
After a long discussion, my friends and I decided to go to Puerto Rico this spring break. We decided on Puerto Rico for three reasons. First, we wanted a warm place to vacation after a very cold winter term—we still loved the tons of snow we got though. Second, we needed to find a place where our international friends could go without a visa on such short notice so we decided to stay within the U.S. Third, we wanted a place where none of us had ever visited before to have a fun little adventure.
During the trip, my friends and I rented a car and visited several places in Puerto Rico, including 'El Yunke' National Park, Jobos beach which was an amazing place where I learned how to surf for the first time, and downtown San Juan!
My friends and I crammed into our rental car to go explore Puerto Rico!
My friends and I at Jobos beach, Puerto Rico!
Look at how beautiful the view is!
In this trip, I greatly enjoyed surfing with my friends, playing frisbee at the beach, and hiking beach-front trails around the island. Other things I enjoyed were eating my friend Henry's interestingly concocted meals at our AirBnB, climbing up cliffs to look at the ocean at night, and winning some of my money back during our poker nights!
Ultimately though, what I enjoyed the most was sharing this trip with an amazing group of people who have made Dartmouth feel like home. I love the different ways in which Dartmouth allows its students to find a sense of community—whether that be through academics, extracurricular activities, or sports. I believe that as long as you are willing to put yourself out there to meet people, you will find a community and a sense of belonging at Dartmouth!
Thanks to West House, one of the housing communities I'm part of, I got the chance to go on an overnight trip to New York City. Read on to hear all about the experience!
After three terms apart due to Dartmouth's D-plan, junior spring marks a joyful reunion with old friends, deepened by the Toulouse study abroad group that has carried their bond seamlessly back to campus.
