Hi there! I'm May and I'm sooo excited to share my Dartmouth experience with you! I love basically all types of food, binge watching Asian shows, and cozy movie nights! Find me in gym playing badminton, with my friends in the common rooms, getting coffee at Collis (my favorite), or volunteering at local service projects!
Academic Program
Quantitative Social Science
Favorite Thing Right Now
Finally having Stir-fry from Collis after a looong year...
This class was my introduction to quantitative social sciences but it definitely won't be my last QSS class at Dartmouth! We worked with datasets, from global wealth distribution to most popular ramen chains in Japan, and learned how to make graphs/visuals through the programming software R.
Do we really live in the best of all possible worlds? This course explores pessimism and the values of human existence from Greek literature. I've never had much interest in the classics but Prof. Lurie's passion and enthusiasm in his lectures had me up reading Plato at 2am. This is a class which will surely stimulate your intellectual curiosity and push you to ask questions about even the most mundane of things.
As the name suggests, BIO12 explores the nature and function of cells and the class covers a lot of material through lectures and assignments. Through Zoom break-out groups, we discussed and solved practice problems together, an approach I wasn't very familiar with, especially virtually. We also used online databases and findings to compile our own data to analyze for labs, which I found extremely insightful!
My first geography class at Dartmouth and first introduction to GIS technology, something that I've always been intrigued by. Prof. Xun Shi takes the time to go over each conceptl to make sure his students have a solid understanding of the fundamentals. We also had lab sessions where we used ArcGIS to work with spatial data, geographic information, and maps in group projects.
Arguably one of the best classes at Dartmouth! Whether you are a computer science major or not, this class is a "must-take". Beyond coding, I felt as though I gained a whole new outlook on problem solving and creative thinking. Some of the problem sets Professor Vasanta gives the class are really fun and interesting and she herself is a phenomenal teacher. You won't regret taking this class!
One of my favorite things about being involved in Greek life is the many ways to give back to the community. So, when an opportunity came for me help organize a dinner with my sisters at a local church, of course I made a beeline to sign up!
For this event, we partnered with Hanover Community Kitchen, a student-led organization on campus. Our task at hand: plan, supply, cook, and serve dinner at a community church for local elderly residents, indigent populations, and families of patients in long-term care at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. I've always considered cooking to be my love language and to do so with my sorority sisters was something I felt really excited and grateful for.
My carefully drawn out grocery list as my weapon of choice!
After choosing the menu (a delectable spinach lasagna, fruit salad, and finger-licking cheesecake bars) our small but mighty group of 7 delegated roles amongst ourselves. I, for one, was in charge of getting the groceries. That morning, I hopped on the bus to West Lebanon and headed to Price Chopper, the largest supermarket closest to Hanover. Sometimes when I don't have class, I like to take the 40-minute bus ride to West Lebanon. We pride ourselves in Hanover being a small town but there are also times when I need a much-needed escape downtown. Buses in Hanover are also free and run every weekday from 6 am to 6 pm, making it easily accessible for college students and local residents.
Look at all these groceries! (Eyeing the Oreos....)
As much as I love cooking for my family and friends, I've never planned nor budgeted for a group of over 20 people. So, once I walked past the sliding doors into Price Chopper, I grabbed the largest shopping cart I could find, secured my hold on its handle with one hand, and held out my grocery list in another. It took me roughly 2 hours of jumping back and forth from one aisle to another, making quick decisions on substitutes for ingredients I couldn't find, and double, triple, and quadruple checking my grocery list before my grocery trip came to an end.
Some lovely sisters and I posing in front of the food. Yayy, we did it!!
Later that day at 4 pm, my sisters and I drove to Our Savior Lutheran Church which is about 5 minutes away from the Dartmouth Green. Once we settled in (and put our masks on!), Sarah, one of my lovely sisters, and I were put in charge of washing the fruits for the fruit salad. On the other side of the kitchen, the pasta was cooking in a huge stockpot for the lasagna and the vegetables for a last-minute garden salad were being washed and cut.
Laughing through our mistakes and hyping each other up, our group of 7 successfully whipped out 2 large trays of spinach lasagna, an extra-large bowl of garden salad, and an extra, extra large bowl of fruit salad. Another sister had saved us time by making the cheesecake bars herself and altogether, we were all set for a delightful dinner!
I was soo hungry, I filled up my plate with everything on the menu. It was honestly such a satisfying Friday dinner to end the week :)
Soon, our guests started coming in and take-away orders arrived. For those who were able to be there in-person, we all sat together around a large table and enjoyed a light conversation as we dined. Given the pandemic, I haven't had many opportunities yet to get to know Upper Valley residents so it was definitely a pleasure for me to talk to and get to know those who joined us. My favorite part of the evening, though, was seeing the food we had made empty out and our hearts feeling so full knowing we were able to spread a few smiles and laughter around, amongst ourselves as well. This will definitely not be my last time cooking at the church and come other opportunities for service activities, I'll be making a beeline to sign up again!
This term, I decided to build on my already-existing interest in photography and take Photo I: The Intentional Photography. Here's a selection of my works!
Being a super senior ('23) is like being an incoming freshman ('28) in that you get to make a new set of friends. Luckily, Dartmouth is a small school with many social spaces students can tap into.
With the beginning of Week 5 of spring term already upon us comes an outline of my schedule for the term. From trying new activities to settling into courses and club positions, this is what I've been up to during my most beloved term!
