First, I'll explain who I am. I'm Nicholas Sugiarto, a '23 from San Diego, California. Second, a quick disclaimer. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Prior to Dartmouth, I've never hiked, skied, or seen snow. So yeah, you could say that Dartmouth is quite a bit different from what I'm used to. You'll probably find me on campus lost. I have no sense of direction. Please help.
A class studying how Christian language has permeated into how we as a society talk about economics. I have virtually no interest in either field as a major, nor am I really religious, but the class is super fun! It challenges you to think in ways that aren't outstandingly obvious, but get more and more interesting if you're willing to put the time in to thinking about them. It's by no means your traditional class. At least in the high school I came from, the idea of dedicating an entire term to a topic as niche as this is unheard of. But honestly? That just makes it so much more fulfilling. Like most Dartmouth classes, there's a ton of freedom to explore topics that interest you. For my final term paper, since I'm a huge hip hop fan, I wrote about the religious and economic underpinnings of Kendrick Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost." Without diving too deep into the jargon, I argued that money according to Kendrick Lamar, is defined by Western capitalism heavily intertwined with American Prosperity Gospel; its true nature, on the other hand, is a form of spiritual exchange. I loved this class so much that I was able to take my professor out to breakfast (on Dartmouth's dime, of course. Quick college lesson, never, ever pay for food. Live life Aladdin style.).
For those that don't know, Writing 5 is a class that's mandated for all Freshman. It helps you adjust to college writing, research, all that good stuff. There's a ton of topics to choose from, ranging from the criminal justice system to how food affects your mind. I personally chose "Pursuit of Happiness" because, well, who doesn't want to be happy? This class was my first intro to what the Dartmouth academic experience is really about. It was a small class of only 16 strong where classes were discussion-based and the professor's door is always open. It goes without saying that the course was immensely interesting (is there really a way to make happiness boring?), and we studied a vast majority of topics from Aristotle to Voltaire to Biochemical research studies. I tell incoming students all the time that if you want to make the most of your Dartmouth experience, take classes that interest you and make what you do with those classes interesting too. There's nothing more painful than having to write a paper on a topic you find absolutely mind-numbingly dull. Given my fascination with stand up comedy, I focused on viewing comedy as a form of happiness, starting from comedy in relation to Camus's absurd, the higher prevalence of mental illness in comedians, and what kind of comedians deserve happiness. Honestly? Even though this class was technically "mandatory," I would have taken it regardless.
This is the class I'm currently taking, and it's by far my favorite. You couldn't tell by my posts, or my favorite classes I listed earlier, but I'm actually a huge STEM guy. I'm a biomedical engineering major for a reason, and Dartmouth classes really make STEM fun. They're also so easy a child could follow them. Literally. I'm using the computer science 1 curriculum to teach my little sister coding. At a slower pace of course. She's not THAT smart (yet). I've never tried coding before, but the task-based approach of the CS department really makes things interesting. So far, we've drawn a children's book/ logo, a chalkboard drawing (I drew the Kanye bear), and a retro pong game. There's something fun about solving puzzles for a grade, and even though the course is admittedly pretty challenging at times, it's so worth it.
My trusty bike! It's how I get around the Upper Valley. Attached to it right now is some building materials for my engineering class that I picked up from the main campus.
For most of my (albeit brief) time at Dartmouth, I've been lucky enough to live on campus. Living on campus brings with it a ton of convenience, like being able to be a 3 minute walk away from the library, or using the gym. But, because of that, aside from the one time I took a rental car to go thrift shopping with some friends, most of my life has been confined to Hanover. Though that's all changed now that I've moved off campus to West Lebanon (or West Leb).
The thing is, as far as I can tell, my situation is pretty atypical. I'm currently living in a place called Sachem Village, which is usually graduate student housing. And that's made even more apparent by the fact that I am currently living with two PhD candidates.
And, I'll admit. When I first heard last Winter that I'd be subletting a room from them, I was a bit nervous. After all, I wasn't sure that we'd be able to get along given that I was just an undergraduate. But that wasn't the case, really at all! Turns out that one of my roommates, a Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) PhD candidate, happened to do a rotation at the lab I currently do research in, and my other roommate, an engineering PhD candidate, loves to talk about cooking with me. Unfortunately, out of respect for their privacy, I don't have any photos of that.
Picnic on the Green with a couple friends! They also live off campus
But I'll hope you take my word for it that this really reaffirms how tight-knit the Dartmouth community. We often hear about how everyone's friendly to each other, but those people are mostly talking about undergraduates. Occasionally, we'll talk about faculty-student relationships too, but never about graduate student-undergraduates. It's easy to think that graduate students would be dismissive of us undergrads. After all, we have decidedly less degrees than them. But, the fact that my roommates have not only let me live with them, but also take me under their wing? I can't really express how much I appreciate it. In fact, once my MCB roommate heard I don't have a car, just a bike, he started taking me grocery shopping now on the weekend! It blows me away that he takes time out of his weekend to do that for me, and I can't express how much I appreciate it.
Regardless, just because I'm off campus doesn't mean I'm disconnected from the rest of my undergraduate friends. I still have on campus access, so I still go on picnics on the Green with my friends, study in Baker, and go to the gym. But, living off campus with my graduate student roommates has given me a new perspective, not just on seeing firsthand what it's like to live as a graduate student, since that might be in my future too, but also how everyone in Dartmouth, even graduate students, takes care of each other.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
