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!
Passion, Energy, and Determination in Club Ultimate Frisbee
During week five of winter term, I traveled with my Club Frisbee team to play in a round robin tournament. I essentially had never picked up a frisbee until a couple of months ago when I joined the club frisbee team, and I am loving this new sport! I really enjoy the competitive and intense nature of frisbee that exists in tandem with such beautiful team camaraderie and respectful, fun sportsmanship between teams.
I woke up super early on a Saturday morning, hopped in one of my teammates' car, and we then drove a few hours to UMass Amherst to play in a round robin competition. This was our first game of the term, and I had so much fun!
On the car ride over I slept, listened to music (shoutout Emma and her perfect playlist!), slept some more, and (while I wasn't sleeping) talked to friends. As this tournament was in the middle of Winter, it was still pretty chilly. I made sure to layer up and wore sweatpants, a tank top, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, some gloves (for when I was watching the game), a gator, and a headband for my ears (shoutout Ari for the super duper cool Skida headband!). Last term, I borrowed cleats from a friend on the team (shoutout Zoe), but I received a pair from my family over winterim as a Hannukah gift! I had so much fun running around in my new cleats.
A candid photo of Emma, Lydia, and Ari manning the video camera to record our game! We borrowed a video camera and a camera from the library to film and take pictures of our awesome team.
We played three games in total. Each game lasts around an hour. Our team is small and tight-knit, which means I get so much playing time! I love the camaraderie and team spirit my team has. We are constantly high-fiving each other, shouting encouraging things from the sidelines, and playing to the absolute best of our abilities.
While the players on the field huddle and talk about their game strategy, other players (like myself in the green fleece) create a small huddle to chant a fun song and rally our team's energy!
From sprinting down the field once the disc is thrown after a new point to masterfully executing a play we learned during practice to leaving a team huddle with a crafty game plan to even the score to cheering as loud as I can from the side lines, I love the determination and energy Frisbee requires.
Action shot of Dartmouth players leaving the field and new ones walking onto the field after a point.
Inspired by my fall term recap post, I wanted to share a similar recap at the end of these nine weeks of the winter term. Read on to see what I've been up to!
