Welcome!! My name is Serena and I'm a '28 from New York City. I couldn't be more excited to be here at Dartmouth and share my experiences with all of you! I know I want to explore English Literature alongside a STEM discipline. I love to run, play volleyball, hike, knit, and read books! If you want to hear about a city kid's adventures in rural New Hampshire, follow along as I experience life in the woods!
In this dynamic class, Visiting Professor Vera Kallenberg taught us a survey of Jewish history and culture from the European enlightenment to the establishment of the State of Israel while also sharing her wealth of knowledge with us! Our small, seminar-style class lent itself to profound conversations around the difficult topics that arose during our discussions. From the Haskalah to discourse around the modern-day Israel-Palestine conflict, our class approached these topics with respect and care for one another. We read historical texts and fascinating personal narratives for homework, and then wove our knowledge about the past and present together in class discussions. What an incredible course!
Go Skiing with Me for the First time at Dartmouth!
As you might know from my last blog post, my friends and I have been so ridiculously excited to go skiing at Dartmouth. I think it's so cool that we have our own ski mountain (and free transportation to said mountain isn't too bad either!) and the opportunity to use it. The Skiway offers a discounted season pass for first-years, which is pretty nice.
My friends, Amelia and Tilda, and I made plans to ski the weekend after our very first week of Winter term.
Let me walk you through our day, and I hope you enjoy the photos we took!
The campus shuttle to the Dartmouth Skiway!
The campus shuttle that takes us to the Skiway waits right outside of Rauner Library, our special collections library. This is the same place the Dartmouth Coach waits. This is so nice because this location is a one-minute walk from my dorm (or a 30-second sprint if you need to catch the bus before it leaves…).
This is the view aboard the bus! And, because I totally didn't sprint to catch the bus, I carefully placed (aka haphazardly threw) half of my ski equipment that I had not put on yet on the empty seat beside me.
Say cheese!
The ski lift we went on seats two skiers per chair. Tilda and I sat next to each other while Amelia sat on the chair ahead of us. Amelia and I were feeling silly so we took pictures of each other while on the ski lift. (if you zoom in really closely you might be able to see that Amelia is taking a picture of us!)
We also saw so many other Dartmouth students that we knew, and we all said hi to each other while skiing down the slopes.
Here's a beautiful view!
Here's another beautiful view!
Amelia, Tilda, and I went down a blue run a bunch of times and had so much fun. Then, Amelia and I skied a black diamond! It was my first black diamond ever!!
Here's the view on the bus ride back. We were sooo ready for lunch. We quickly dropped our skis off at our dorms and then headed to Foco, our dining hall, for a late (but delicious) lunch!
While many people might associate cold, long, snowy winters with hardship, I've found that winter at Dartmouth is full of potential to be just as fun as other seasons.
In just a month, I went from a complete beginner to a proficient skier, smoothly making my way down the green and blue runs at Dartmouth Skiway. Read about my journey and how I made such rapid progress!
I've never felt the saying, "Time flies" more strongly than now. How am I already halfway through my Dartmouth career? This winter marks the end of my 6th out of my total 12 terms, the halfway point of my Dartmouth journey.
