Hey! I'm Owen from Hollywood, Florida and I'm a '24. My favorite activities are listening to music, running, and reading the same books over and over again. I'm an Earth Science modified with Physics major and Biology minor who loves "The New Yorker," the outdoors, and reading. On campus, I'm involved with hydrological research, the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science, Hillel, Greek Life, and—obviously—this blog!
Academic Program
Major in Earth Science modified with Physics & a Minor in Biology
A freshman-only introductory biology class taught by an amazing professor who's super invested and wants students to make friends and develop a love of cell biology.
A really cool introductory Earth Science course that taught the basics of geology, Earth history, and paleontology: all in one super accessible course.
This class taught us the basics of the R programming language in order to use it to analyze real-life hydrologic data. In class, we got to analyze datasets about rain, river discharge, flooding, and acid rain, using only the skills we gained from this course with no prerequisites.
This discussion-based geography class was my first interaction with the Geography Department, which other students have been raving to me about. The class, which is cross-listed with African-American Studies, analyzes how locations shape black embodiment and identity. Super cool stuff!
Hi guys! I had a pretty packed day today, so I decided to spend some time keeping track of what I did for a day in my life while taking classes online off campus from Quechee, Vermont. It's week 8 and I can feel the pace beginning to accelerate before finals, but I've been having a lot of free time to spend throughout the day.
7 AM – 8:30 AM
We had a really early wakeup today since my roommates and I decided to go get COVID tested first thing in the morning. We piled into the car, listened to some music, and pretty soon arrived at campus ready to get our noses swabbed. Testing on campus has been super convenient; it's free, easy, and quick and we're in-and-out twice a week in the morning before classes start.
8:30 AM – 10:10 AM
I took some bio notes over breakfast this morning, which is my absolute favorite time to get work done!
After coming back from getting COVID tested, I spent the rest of the morning before classes taking some last-minute notes and preparing for school. This morning, I watched a video on bacterial gene regulation from my genetics class and spent around 30 minutes working on my Jewish studies presentation on black-Jewish relations. I love waking up early to do work, especially while living off campus where grabbing breakfast and coffee doesn't require the usual walk to the dining hall (I'm kind of lazy)!
10:20 AM – 12:50 PM
I had genetics from 10:20-11:25 and I really loved our lesson today. The class is called Gene Expression and Inheritance (Biol 13) and it's known for using a flipped classroom method, which works super well on Zoom. We watch lecture videos before, then do problems on the content we learned with our group. It's super fun to work through problems and I've really appreciated the opportunity to get to know the upperclassmen in my group! After genetics, I had Earth Science lecture where we reviewed our lecture videos on paleontology and talked in our breakout rooms.
12:50 PM – 4 PM
After classes, I made black pepper tofu for lunch and then took a nap. I've been really loving naps lately and try to take one whenever I feel like I have time. Especially on days when I wake up early, my naps are super satisfying and keep me from feeling burnt out—which is really important towards the end of the term when school starts to speed up.
4 PM – 10 PM
My roommates are extremely passionate about their garlic green bean recipe, which I have to admit is really good.
Waking with tons of energy, I decided to tackle the rest of my Jewish studies presentation. My partner and I are presenting on conflicting essays, one by James Baldwin and the other by Norman Podhoretz. I've really been enjoying my Jewish studies class and one of my favorite parts is that we get to focus on a specific area of New York Jewish literature, which is the topic of our presentation and final project. After finishing, I made dinner (chickpea curry and garlic string beans) with my roommates, wrote this blog (meta I know), then went to bed and watched TV. Thanks for following along!
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
Academics can be challenging at Dartmouth. But there are lots of groups across campus here to support you through your academic journey. Read on for my experience asking for help and a few organizations that might be helpful to you!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
