Hey everybody! My name is Matthew, and I'm a '27 from Florida interested in majoring in Chemistry or Biology (not quite sure yet!). Outside of the classroom, I plan on being involved in Dartmouth's theatre scene and outdoor programs! In the future, I'm hoping to merge my passions for scientific discovery and teaching others by becoming a professor. I can't wait to be a part of everything Dartmouth has to offer, and I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride!
During my first term, I wanted to try something completely new—and start working on fulfilling some of the distributive requirements. Two birds with one stone, right? To accomplish this, I enrolled in the first of three introductory Chinese language courses. Taking a fun and informative class with an interesting subject matter—and a stellar professor—has made this term fantastic! I can't wait to see what's in store over the next two terms. I also have a full blog post about my first-year language experience if you're interested in learning more!
As a STEM major, I never really saw myself taking English classes while in college. However, at Dartmouth, you must take a first-year writing sequence, which can include a writing and seminar class from any department. I ended up taking the English department offering, and it was an amazing experience. I learned so much more about how storytelling works and how we can alter the presentation of a story to completely change the way it is received by an audience. I also loved the practical aspects of this class, like writing a mini-memoir story every few weeks based on a theme and getting critical feedback from my classmates. I learned a lot more about the process of storytelling, but also about myself and the way I perceive my own experiences.
This term, I ended up taking two biology classes, which is definitely a pretty big workload, but I had a great time and felt like I really lucked out with the classes I ended up in. Global Change Biology gave me the chance to learn about climate change from a biological viewpoint. We talked about a number of different climate change-related topics, and we learned about one new large climate change topic each week. This was also an R-focused class, so we spent one day a week learning new skills in the programming language and then had a fun coding assignment each week that used data we discussed in class. I felt like I learned a lot more about climate change, but I also developed a lot of R skills that are very helpful for research and other Bio classes. In combination with the ecology class I took this term, I’d say that this class helped me decide on my major once and for all!
SummerHanover, NH
I spent the summer after my first year living in an off-campus apartment in Hanover and doing full-time research in the Biology department. I also continued my work in the admissions office as a tour guide and a leader for Dartmouth Bound! It was a great summer, and if you want to learn more about my research internship, I have a blog post about it.
Towards the end of Fall term, we headed to our first competition of the year, invitationals at the University of Pennsylvania! One of the coolest parts of being on a traveling competitive team is getting to see lots of cool areas off campus, and being able to trek around Philadelphia for a weekend was very exciting. Invitationals were my first exposure to a real mock trial competition environment, and getting to dip my toes in in a less stressful environment was a lot of fun. I'm always grateful for short journeys off campus because spending time in a more crowded city environment always makes Hanover feel fresh and exciting upon re-arrival. I think that getting off campus from time to time is important, because it helps you appreciate the community on campus even more.
After a long waiting period during winterim (our six-week break between Fall and Winter terms), it was finally time for
Winter: Regionals
We spent the first half of the term freshening up on the case, and preparing our two mock trial teams for the regional competition. All first-years on the team serve in the Research Attorney role, so our job was to tighten up the case as much as possible and help our witnesses and attorneys gain confidence while tidying up our content and adding polish. We even spent a week creating our own case theory to run against the main teams in a set of practice trials, which has definitely been one of my most fun mock trial experiences so far. Then it was time to head to Boston for regionals. By the end of the weekend, I'd eaten a lot of Chipotle and learned a lot about the art of mock trial. In addition, our A team qualified for the next round of the competition,
Spring Break: ORCs
Since the quarter system that Dartmouth follows means our breaks line up at different times than most other schools, we elected to wait until spring break and attend one of the latest Open Round Competitions (ORCs), a bit out of the way in Cincinnati. This meant spending the first week of spring break all together on campus, running content and spending time together getting meals and venturing out into Hanover for shopping trips. Since campus becomes so sparse during spring break, it gave us an opportunity to get really close as a team, and bond over our shared time. Then, in Cincinnati, we earned a bid to the National round of the competition, a huge deal since Dartmouth hasn't qualified for nationals since 2008.
Enjoying the Cincinnati sunset.
Photo credit: Marina Cascini '27
Spring: Nationals.
Nationals for mock trial means a whole new case with only a month to prepare. We had to work extra hard, nailing down theory and sharpening up our performance in a very limited timeframe. Although the Dartmouth team is entirely student-run and we have no faculty coaches, we were able to reach out to some members of the alumni network who now practice as lawyers or are in law school for guidance and critical feedback on practice trials. Finally, it was time to head to Chicago for the final round. One of the most exciting aspects of nationals for me was getting to see a new city that I'd never been to before, and Chicago didn't disappoint. I love having the ability to travel so much and see so many new places through Dartmouth's funding of club activities and other experiences.
The windy city... a bit different from Hanover?
The future: ???
Now that the competitive season is over, mock is all about friendship (awww). From team breakfasts to fun social events, we're switching gears from competition to connection for the rest of spring term. Joining a team at Dartmouth is one of the best decisions I've made in my time here. They give fantastic opportunities for making new friends and connecting deeply with an awesome group of people you might not have met otherwise. I'm so thankful for my experience on the mock trial team this year, and I can't wait to see what next Fall (and maybe even this summer?) brings.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
