Hi there!! My name is Martin, and I'm thrilled to be a '27 blogger for People Places Pines! A small rural town in Maine called Veazie is where I call home, and I can't wait to tell you about what life at Dartmouth is like! Carving the slopes in the winter, hiking through woods in autumn, or basking in the Green in spring and summer, that's where you'll find me! Stay tuned for everything Big Green!
In this course, we covered all the basics of ecology: how organisms interact with each other and with their ecosystems. My favorite parts of the class were the labs: they took place outside and we explored ecological concepts around campus!
This course was on everything energy: how we use it, how we generate it, and how we can improve our current energy systems in light of climate change. We visited nearby energy systems, including Dartmouth's very own heating and energy facilities. This course was awesome!
This was a project-based class where we chose an important issue and then designed a solution, using the principles and methods we learned in class. My group made a smart trash can to make recycling easier!
My Classes this Winter (24W): Physics 13, Environmental Ethics, Energy Systems, and Writing 5 (Authenticity)
As my first winter term comes to an end, I wanted to provide some thoughts and reflections on my classes this term. Here at Dartmouth, most students take three classes a term. While that might not seem like a lot, Dartmouth's quarter system makes classes rather fast-paced, meaning three classes can be plenty! This term, I opted to take four classes that interested me instead of the traditional three. It was challenging and moved quickly, but ultimately worth it!
For my first winter term (designated 24W–meaning the "Winter (W)" of 2024), I took four courses that piqued my interest: Introductory Physics I (PHYS 13), Environmental Ethics (PHIL 9.02), Transforming Energy Systems (EARS 21), and Authenticity: Self and Society (WRIT 5). As finals week and the end of the term approaches, here's what each course is like, along with some of my thoughts.
Introductory Physics I (PHYS 13)
This "introductory" course was my first physics course at Dartmouth. Many students take this course, along with the following course—Introductory Physics II (PHYS 14)—as prerequisites for a certain major (engineering, for example). This course essentially covered the basics of mechanics—the subsection of physics that looks at how and why things move. It involved many equations and math but kept me interested all term!
PHYS13 was one of my more challenging courses this winter. Physics is a demanding subject, and this course certainly wasn't a walk in the park. However, it was taught by Professor Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil—an expert in astronomy and galaxy formation (and even has one named after her!)—she was an awesome professor and made the course entertaining with real-world applications and demonstrations of what we were learning. The course also has a lab where we experimented with the principles we learned about in class. This class was challenging, but I had an excellent professor and classmates who made it easier!
Environmental Ethics (PHIL 9.02)
I took this course as I wanted to learn more about how environmental climate change is viewed in the realm of philosophy. As a philosophy course, this class included a lot of reading—of current literature about climate change and philosophical arguments—followed by class discussions and debates over what we read. It was an exciting course, and I'm glad I took it!
We covered everything from the ethics and economics of current climate change policy to the philosophical basis of potential approaches and solutions. This is a philosophy course, and that also means that it meets the "Systems and Traditions of Thought, Meaning, and Value (TMV)" course requirement at Dartmouth. As a student here, part of the liberal arts curriculum requires that you take courses in a wide variety of areas, one of which is a "TMV" course. Environmental Ethics was a "TMV" course, meaning I've completed that requirement after having taken it!
Transforming Energy Systems (EARS 21)
This course was definitely my favorite this term. In "Transforming the Energy System: Keeping the Lights on While Saving the Planet" (or just Transforming Energy Systems for short), we explored everything from the geological basis of climate change to the current political and social issues associated with climate change policy. As an Earth Sciences (EARS) course, it involved in-class labs where we often left the classroom for field trips touring nearby energy systems or renewable energy facilities. If you'd like to know more, I already wrote a blog on the course that you can read here.
Authenticity: Self and Society (WRIT 5)
This was my "first year writing course" at Dartmouth. As a first-year at Dartmouth, you'll take an introductory writing course depending on your writing background and experience. There are a number of specialized "topics" of each course that you can pick from based on whichever piques your interest. I chose "Authenticity: Self and Society," because it sounded cool and because my roommate said he loved it!
In this class, we discussed and wrote about how we define and employ being "authentic" in the world around us. This includes things like social interactions, culture, and social media. Overall, I really enjoyed this introductory writing course. If you come to Dartmouth, I definitely recommend choosing this course as your "Writing 5" course!
Those are my closing thoughts on my first winter term (my second term at Dartmouth). I'll make sure to update you with more thoughts on my classes next term. Stay tuned!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
