Natasha Raman

A:

This term, I took Government 3 (The American Political System), Speech 20 (Public Speaking), and Chinese 4 (Advanced First-Year Chinese). Although I genuinely enjoyed all of my classes this term, my most memorable class would have to be Chinese 4 with Professor Alan Li. 

As compared to my other classes this term, Chinese 4 was probably my most intensive class. In addition to meeting four times a week for Chinese class, I also attended drill two times a week. Drill is an integral aspect of the Rassias method, a method of learning foreign languages created by former Dartmouth professor John Rassias and implemented across all Dartmouth language departments. During these drill sessions, my classmates and I would work with our drill instructor, who was an upperclassman fluent in the language, to improve our pronunciation. Although I found drill to be tedious at first, I saw a marked improvement in my speaking skills through these sessions. 

Chinese 4 was a memorable class for me because of my professor, Alan Li. Professor Li was very knowledgeable and always had his door open if we had any questions. In his class, we learned about the Chinese language from a technical, historical, and cultural context. As a result, I gained a greater understanding of the language as a whole. Professor Li's funny and lively personality made the class so much more enjoyable, and definitely was a highlight of my first term here!

My classmates in Chinese 4 made the class enjoyable as well. Since our class only had 15 students, we became very close by the end of the term. Although my class was a majority freshman, we did have a few upperclassmen who were all helpful and gave us first-year students insight into life on campus and tips on which classes to take. 

I also really enjoyed my Public Speaking class and my Government class. As the only freshman in my public speaking class, I started the term afraid about whether I was going to feel isolated from the rest of my classmates. However, after only the first day of classes, my fears quickly dissipated. All of my classmates were nothing but very welcoming, kind, and supportive. Because my class only had 12 people, I came to know my classmates super well. I also became close to many people in my Government class. Although this was my biggest class with 36 people, I was able to become friends with some fantastic people. Through working on group projects and spending late nights reviewing for our midterms, I've become close to many students despite it being a large class. 

My first term here at Dartmouth has been nothing short of memorable. Because of my inspiring professors and classmates, I have loved all of my classes and am looking forward to coming back for the winter term!