Welcome! My name is Serena and I'm a '28 from NYC. I'm so excited to be here at Dartmouth and share my experiences with you! On campus you can find me organizing events at Hillel, hosting socials for the women's club frisbee team, trying every single Dartmouth tradition, and yapping in the library. I also love to run, play volleyball, hike, knit, and read fantasy 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!
I absolutely loved this Junior Colloquia English class taught by Professor Beckman. This small, discussion-based class is designed to prepare an English major for the type of work they will do in their Senior year. Professor Beckman is such a brilliant and kindhearted professor, and, especially as the only first-year student in that class, I really benefited from meeting with her in office hours. We read King Lear, The Alchemist, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Roaring Girl alongside various other academic papers. I left every class amazed, my brain filled to the brim with new and exciting knowledge about Renaissance literature. I loved engaging in fascinating topics and discussion in this challenging, high-level class!
In this class, we studied fascinating literature from the 18th and 19th centuries in order to explore what the novel as we know it today emerged from. We studied scandalous female libertines, rogue nuns, and other criminal female characters! We started off reading the surveillance chronicle Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, and we also read Anti-Pamela by Eliza Haywood, A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne, and Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. I loved how Professor Garrison brought every reading to life through a mix of lecture, discussion, and even a book arts workshop visit.
I really enjoyed my first comparative literature class, “Literature and Psychoanalysis.” It was evident that Professor Kritzman cared about each and every one of his students. This was my first exposure to psychoanalytic theory, and I loved exploring concepts such as repression, desire, fantasy, truth, what it means to be human, and more. Just some of the authors we read included Freud, Zizek, Woolf, Mann, Kafka, Kristeva, Fanon, Sophocles, and Shakespeare.
Professor Harner is one of the best professors I have had the privilege of taking a class with, and I thoroughly enjoyed Lit History II. She is such a great teacher; she truly cares about you as a student, offers a ton of feedback, and knows so much about the subject she teaches. We studied 17-19th century literature from Britain and America, studying a pivotal decade each week of the term. I would rate this class a 100000/10!
After taking Literary History II with Professor Harner last term, I knew I needed to take another class with her! Not only was I beyond excited to read my first Charles Dickens novel in this class, but I was also ecstatic to be in the presence of Professor Harner’s brilliance, knowledge, and kindness once again. This class was a Junior Colloquium, a high-level English class that culminates in a 12-15 page research paper. We spent the entire term reading only two books, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and the adaptation Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, while simultaneously reading fascinating papers on literary theory to further our understanding of the texts.
How lucky am I to go to school in New Hampshire? How lucky am I to live in such a beautiful state?
I had only a few criteria when making my college list. One requirement was that the college must not be in a city. I wanted sprawling fields, bright blue sky as far as the eye could see, and gorgeous hikes. I longed for something different than city life for my four years of college.
Indeed, Dartmouth is so much more than "not in a city." I often fill my weekends with hikes, trips to rivers and other sites of natural beauty. I don't have a car on campus, so to do these hikes I either sign up for a DOC (the Dartmouth Outing Club, the oldest and largest collegiate outing club in the country) trip, take the bus off campus, or go with my friends who have cars! I'm so happy with my outdoors experience at Dartmouth, so much so that I wrote an ode for you all. Enjoy :)
Many things can be true at the same time
i've lived in Hanover, New Hampshire for two years now.
i can hardly believe i'm halfway through college. but then i remember how much i've grown, the wonderful places i've been, and unique things i've seen.
i've become used to staying up until the early hours of the morning poring over my textbooks, finishing my readings, or writing my essays in Baker Library (usually Blobby or the Tower Room).
at 2 am in the Tower Room, my eyes feel gritty and as heavy as lead, but my fingers seem to fly over the keyboard. i have this sense that every sentence i labor over feels simultaneously like a stroke of genius and 'the dumbest thing i have ever written.' as i frantically type, the dark wood panels and shadowy atmosphere of the Tower Room hold me close. i sink into the luxurious green armchairs.
i know many things can be true at the same time because though i feel the looming pressure of the deadline for my essay, though the stress compounds with each hour ticking by, i can't help but think "my library is just so cool."
last weekend i hiked North and South Kinsmen with my friend. we woke up at 6am, drove off campus, and i felt ecstatic for our upcoming day in the outdoors. halfway up the hike, my knees hurt, my face felt overheated, my backpack irritated the skin of my shoulders, and i could only focus on the rumbling of my empty stomach. i wanted to give up.
i know many things can be true at the same time because though i felt exhausted and wanted to quit, i somehow not only found the strength to keep going but i still enjoyed that hike. i felt euphoric at the summit, with the cool wind rushing through my hair. i savored the sandwich i ate at the summit and the snacks i ate on the way down.
the pain and the fatigue of my hike taught me that i can do hard things, that even when something feels impossible, even when the 3,000 feet of elevation between me and the summit feels eons and eons away, i will make it there. it taught me that i should never let fear stop me. because after all, i didn't sit down and refuse to take another step. i didn't stop because it was too hard. i didn't turn around. and if i can do that, if i can push my body past its fear and fatigue, what can't i do?
i know many things can be true because in between studying, office hours, and classes, I've been able to explore some of the most gorgeous mountains nature can create. i've been able to grow inside and outside the classroom.
i'm halfway through college, and i wouldn't change a thing
Here are pictures of me hiking and of the beautiful snow-covered campus in the stillness of winter
My friends and I hiked to the fire tower on top of Cardigan Mountain. I also hiked this mountain during First Year Trips, so this picture feels extra nostalgic to me.
Last September, a friend and I crafted a ten-item bucket list for our final year as undergraduates. It's the end of our senior spring now. These are some of the boxes I've checked.
