Welcome to the woods! My name is Natalie and I'm from California (3035 miles away from Dartmouth)! I'm a political science and crossword puzzle nerd who's excited to dive into the millions of activities we have on campus. I'm a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major at Dartmouth, and am considering both a History and Human-Centered Design minor. I'm also the President of the Parliamentary Debate team! Go Big Green!
Winter was definitely a challenging quarter, but this one has been off to an excellent start — in all senses, but especially academically. I figured I would start off my Spring 22 blogging by introducing the classes I'm taking.
MES 001: Introduction to Middle Eastern Studies
I have some experience with the Middle East + North Africa, participating in an exchange in Morocco in high school. Still, my foundations in the region's history are not particularly strong. This class received great reviews on our course review site, and after sitting through Professor Smolin's first three lectures, I couldn't agree more. Professor Smolin is knowledgeable about his areas of expertise and lectures with so much enthusiasm. I'm excited for our unit on LGBTQ+ narratives in the Middle East.
MATH 010: Introductory Statistics
Statistics is required for most majors on campus, including government, psychology, sociology, QSS, and more. As an aspiring government major, I wanted to knock this prerequisite out of the way early in my academic career, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I've enjoyed it. Statistics is probably one of the most "practical" maths, and I've enjoyed applying the concepts to real-world applications.
ECON 01: The Price System (Introductory Economics)
As admittedly someone who knows absolutely zero about money or economics, I was excited to take this Dartmouth academic rite of passage. In typical Dartmouth fashion, we generally refuse to do things precisely like our peer institutions, structuring our introductory economics class around a price system focus rather than typical microeconomics, even though most of the same content is covered.
I don't have a favorite yet, since I've been enjoying all of them so far, but I'm thinking I'll check back in over the quarter and let you know how they're going. See you next week!
Dartmouth's Chinese New Year celebrations brought a sense of home through themed dining, student-led events, and cultural gatherings, fostering community and appreciation for the holiday.
ENGS 12: Design Thinking—one of Dartmouth's most popular courses. Read on to hear about my experience, key takeaways, and how the class reshaped my approach to creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.
