Nicholas Sugiarto
You are here
Getting Classy
It's odd, actually. Two terms in, currently on my third, and I have yet to write a single post about my classes. Now that I am currently trapped in the house because of the… recent events…I've only just now realized how much I really miss being on campus taking classes. Even in a (relatively) large class like chemistry, there's always some way to create community. Don't believe me? The below photo was taken to "celebrate" the end of the laboratory portion of my general chemistry (Chem 5) course:

I'll admit, courses at Dartmouth aren't for everyone. They're tough, demanding, other synonyms for challenging, you get the idea. What's unique about Dartmouth is that each term we only take three classes per ten-week term. Most schools take more classes over longer periods. But in all honesty, I actually prefer this about Dartmouth. With this pacing, we can go deep, and we can go fast. And with this comes a broad variety of classes that you can't really get outside of a liberal arts experience. Now, I've said time and time again (even at the top of this webpage) that I'm a prospective Biomedical Engineering and English double major. But since coming here, I've taken "God and Money" (a class about the intersection of religion and economics) "The Pursuit of Happiness," and simply "Joan of Arc." Yeah. A 10 week deep dive dedicated to a single historical figure. At the high school I'm from, that's just unheard of.

Were they hard classes? Yeah, of course. At Dartmouth, I'm the most academically challenged I've ever been in my life. But I don't think I've ever been as fulfilled as I am now. There's an odd sort of freedom with the liberal arts system. I'm a massive hip-hop head, so for the final paper for "God and Money," I wrote a paper analyzing the religious and economic backbones underpinning Kendrick Lamar's song "How Much a Dollar Cost." And, as a huge fan of stand-up, for "The Pursuit of Happiness," I studied the "sad clown paradox" stereotype by researching whether or not professional comedians were happier people. Was it a ton of work? Yeah. But the freedom this kind of academic system brings gives you a sort of creativity that makes it all worth it.
There's also just straight up creative classes too. My favorite course last term was "Writing for Television," a creative writing workshop dedicated to writing an original TV pilot. As someone who's obviously into writing, I was immensely grateful for this kind of opportunity.

Overall, as I sit here, Spring term, Zoom class over Zoom class, I find myself missing being back on campus. Now don't get me wrong, Dartmouth is doing a surprisingly good job managing this whole remote learning. It's a strange time for everyone, and we're all just trying to stay afloat. But there really isn't anything that can replace just being present on a physical campus, and definitely nothing that can replace Dartmouth.
Posts You Might Like
This winter break, I spent eight days participating in the TuckLAB: Energy Program before heading back to home. In this blog, I'd like to share more about what TuckLAB Energy is about, and why I decided to participate in it.
Find out what classes I'm taking this term, and how these fit into my plans and my Dartmouth journey as a whole.
Dartmouth hosts a variety of speaker events, bringing experts from politics, journalism, and academia to campus. The 2024 Election Speaker Series featured figures such as Mike Pence, Elbridge Colby, and Ben Rhodes.
Dartmouth offers a variety of study abroad programs. In this post, I interviewed a member of the class of 2027 who went on the ASCL Chinese LSA+ during the summer of 2024.
"Only three classes?!" The typical response I get from someone outside of Dartmouth. Come and join as I describe how those three classes actually feel in a ten week term!
During my time at Dartmouth, within the realm of medicine specifically, I was able to gain a broader outlook on what careers / optionalities are "really" out there, and I'm here to tell you the resources that were leveraged!
A bit about the different organizations celebrating Lunar New Year on campus, and a photo gallery of Dartmouth Chinese Student Association and the Chinese Language Houses' celebrations!
Come learn about ways I've been able to explore design at Dartmouth!