Hi all! Welcome to my blog! My name is Robin. I am a senior studying Economics and the Digital Arts. Outside of class I'm a guitarist, amateur rock climber, and seasoned billiard player–if you're on campus, there's a good chance you can find me at the Collis pool hall. I love Dartmouth and am sharing my journey through this blog. So if you're a prospie, parent, or Dartmouth enthusiast, you've come to the right place!
In this class, I'll be learning about stellar evolution, the origin of the elements, the deaths of stars, black holes, the structure of our Galaxy, other galaxies, dark matter, the expanding universe and the big bang.
In this class, we explore the issues of mark, line, scale, space, light and composition. I'm not naturally a great artist, but I love art and am taking this course to improve my skills.
This course studies the economic behavior of employers and employees as they interact in the labor market, covering topics such as human capital investment, the structure and determinants of financial compensation and benefits packages, contract negotiations and arbitration.
Painting I is an introductory class in oil painting techniques, painting language, and critical thinking. Major topics that will be covered include: basic color theory, color mixing, paint application, and color composition.
This course explores how the brain controls our motivation to pursue goals and how drugs of abuse hijack those systems, exploring in detail how narcotic drugs (opioids, stimulants, alcohol, cannabis) act in the brain and the mechanisms underlying the transition from drug use to addiction.
At Dartmouth, every student is required to meet a language credit requirement. This can be done in a number of ways—you can take a placement exam your first-year fall, use high school credits or, as most students do, take language classes at Dartmouth.
Language classes have two components. First is the traditional classroom instruction taught by a professor where you learn to read, write, and speak; the second is "drill," a 50-minute session taught by a Teaching Assistant, aka Drill Instructor, focusing strictly on speaking and listening. This combination makes it so students are forced to practice the language consistently throughout the term, and is really fun!
My first encounter with drill was actually when I became a Spanish Drill Instructor my first-year spring. It was taught over Zoom due to remote learning then; however, the concept is the same. The drill instructor will read a sentence, state a rule for modifying said sentence, snap their fingers, and pick a student to say the answer. There are many more rules to the exercise but, in short, all students get to participate and have to think of their answers on the spot—no notes, no Google Translate.
My first encounter with drill in-person was when I took French my junior year. Zoom was good, but in-person was even better! My drill instructors moved around the room and used hand gestures to help us understand each sentence before answering. They kept the pace of the exercises fast, forcing students to actively listen throughout the session—you could be called to answer at any point, so you gotta pay attention!
The fast pace and on-the-spot nature of drill mimics casual conversation and is a great way to practice skills learned in the classroom. Plus, each drill section is usually seven students or less, so you can get really close with your group by the end of the term. In fact, the picture above is of my French 1 drill!
Dartmouth changed my life. A large part of that change comes from the support I have received from professors. Learn more here about some mentor-mentee relationships I have made!
