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Matthew Monroe

Class of 2027
A selfie of a young man smiling. He has brown hair, a red beard, and is wearing a blue hoodie.

Bio 

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!

Academic Program 

Biology

Favorite Thing Right Now 

Sherman Library Vault Room

Hometown 

Ormond Beach, Florida

Pronouns 

He/Him

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Matthew's D-Plan

What's a D-Plan?

    • FallHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: CHIN 01: First Year Courses in Chinese

      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!

    • Winter Hanover, NH

      Favorite Class: ENGL 07.16: Investigative Memoir

      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.

    • SpringHanover, NH

      Favorite Class:  BIOL 026: Global Change Biology

      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.

Things That Slipped My Mind: A 23F Term-In Review

To celebrate my last blog post of the term, I'd like to take a look back at all of the exciting stuff I've let slip through the cracks!

  1. No. 1

    Dance Nation

    A picture of a theatre production taken inside of a black box theatre. It is dark, with a bright light shining on a man in the front corner, and a blue light on a girl sitting on the floor to his left

    One of the biggest activities I’ve totally missed is lighting a production of Dance Nation for Displaced, our student-run theatre group. I was able to get on the lightboard in one of Dartmouth’s on-campus black box spaces and help put together an exciting show! It was fantastic getting to put my love for lighting design to use, and through talking with other people involved with the technical production aspects of Dartmouth’s theatre productions, I’ve learned much more about what the department and student-run organizations offer. I plan on continuing my involvement by taking a lighting design class next term!

  2. No. 2

    Snow!

    Two benches covered in a light layer of snow on either side of a concrete path

    This past week was the first snowfall of the school year in Hanover! Being from Florida, I have minimal experience with snow, and waking up to find campus covered in a beautiful layer of fresh powder was so exciting for me and other people from warmer climates! I made snow angels, made footprint drawings, and even started a snowball fight with a few friends (great practice for the campus-wide snowball fight at the start of winter term!) Although it isn’t forecasted to snow again before I head back to Florida, getting a little taste of what winter term has to offer was so amazing.

     

  3. No. 3

    Drill Dinner

    As the term comes to a close, I’ve had the opportunity to spend some non-academic time with people from my classes! The most fun was getting dinner with the people from my drill session, essentially an extra language practice class you take in addition to your intro-sequence language courses. We headed to Han Fusion, a Chinese restaurant in Hanover to have a meal together. I haven’t spent too much time in Hanover, so I’d yet to eat at Han Fusion, and it was really tasty! A welcome break after ten weeks in the dining hall.

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Posted 12/5/2023 at 9:00 AMAll List Posts

Escape from Baker-Berry!

This week I challenged myself to study entirely outside of Baker-Berry Library! Join me on a tour of my favorite study spaces around campus.

  1. No. 1

    Sanborn Library

    Picture of a large wooden room full of chairs and couches from a seat on the second floor.

    Ok so here's the thing. Sanborn Library IS directly next to Baker-Berry. But, it is technically it's own separate building, so I'm counting it for this list. Sanborn is one of my favorite spots for working through long readings, or studying textbook passages. The room feels very cozy, and it's filled with couches and armchairs that, while not always the best for keeping you awake, are great when you are pushing through more laid-back classwork. Although I've yet to test this theory, I imagine it's a great spot to nap as well (future blog-post idea?)

  2. No. 2

    Rocky

    Picture of a large room dominated by a long chalkboard and a row of diner-style booth seats.

    The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy (or "Rocky" for short) is next up on this list. I find that writing out characters on a chalkboard helps me learn Chinese a lot faster, so deprived of my usual Novack chalkboards (located in Berry), I needed an alternative. Rocky takes chalkboards to a new level. Despite not being a mandated quiet space like some library rooms, Rocky is always nearly silent, even when filled with people. It's a great spot for studying, and a great spot to host speakers, like Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson who spoke at Rocky last week!

  3. No. 3

    Foco

    Picture of a dining hall room filled with small, colorful armchairs

    If you prefer a little bit of background noise while you study, the upstairs of the Class of 1953 Commons (aka the dining hall (aka Foco (short for foodcourt))) is for you! Outside of meal rushes, the upstairs of Foco is usually nearly empty. There's also the obvious advantage of easy access to food, which can provide a very nice reward deep into a study session.

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Posted 11/20/2023 at 9:00 AMAll List Posts
A picture of Dartmouth Hall, a large, white building from the street

Hello!

Hello Dartmouth! My name is Matthew Monroe and I'm a new blogger and member of the class of '27 from Florida! I'm hoping to cover a lot of the more overlooked aspects of Dartmouth, and I can't wait to bring you along for the ride!

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Posted 09/22/2023 at 9:00 AMAll Text Posts

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