Hey there! My name is Pau and I am a '25 from Nicaragua! At Dartmouth, I am a Government major modified with Economics and I also plan to minor in International Studies. A little more about me is that I have an undying passion for eating fruit, watching sunrises/sunsets, petting dogs, and finding myself in warm, cozy places. Feel free to ask me any questions on anything and everything that piques your interest about Dartmouth! I love to share :) Go Big Green!
Being undecided, I have taken a wide variety of courses at Dartmouth. In all, I've taken "Intro to Calculus," "Virtual Medicine and Cybercare, ""What Matters?", "Global Health and Society," "Intro to Environmental Science," and "The Supreme Court." Taking such different classes definitely keeps things interesting. Across the board, I've seen how all of my professors have been incredibly knowledgeable about their class and it's fascinating to see how they respond to questions with nuance and passion for their subject.
My favorite class this term has been "Global Health and Society" which is taught by Professor Lisa Adams and Professor John Butterly. They are both medical doctors with experience in the field which offer invaluable knowledge to their class through contact that they have had with the health care system around the world. The class focuses on several infectious diseases that plague the world such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria, polio, and a myriad of others that are still major causes of concern throughout the planet despite them being widely manageable or curable. The class also takes a heavy focus on global inequities by looking at the leading causes of death in developing vs. developed countries. It is astonishing to find the stark differences between the two.
One of my favorite lectures for this class was titled "The Pathophysiology of Starvation," where Professor Butterly went into the biological basis and impacts of malnutrition. Not receiving proper nourishment is unfortunately the reality for thousands of people around the planet even today and is a very cruel predicament considering the affluence of other nations. In the second half of the class, we focused on global initiatives and mechanisms that can be taken to combat malnutrition and it was also interesting to see the policy side of the issue after having learned about it biologically.
"Global Health and Society" is an extremely interesting class that has led me to learn a lot more about the world and the stark inequities that are present in our global health care system. Through guest speakers that can talk to us about their leading research on COVID-19, malaria, as well as efforts on the field to combat other types of infectious diseases, we have gained invaluable knowledge and perspectives from experts in public health. At Dartmouth, I would urge others to take classes that can initially seem out of your comfort zone in order to learn more about your interests.
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
