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.
Hi guys! After my two-month-long silence (summer) I have returned (fall term just started) from my foray into a new territory (summer camp) to once again impart my wisdom (insider peek into Dartmouth) with some funny anecdotes along the way.
Let's talk about theD-Plan. Dartmouth is on the quarter system, as opposed to a semester system—we have four 10-week-long terms each year. Right now it's 25F (2025 Fall Term); next term will be 26W and then 26S, and finally, for the summer, 26X. Something that makes Dartmouth unique (otherwise known as flexible, complicated, really fun, sometimes annoying, and otherwise opportunity-giving) is that our quarter system is called the D-Plan (read about Kabir's D-Plan here). Basically, the D-Plan is just the name for a flexible quarter system that allows students to frequently study abroad. Because some students may choose to be abroad or off frequently, most sophomores are on campus for the summer after their sophomore year, otherwise known as Sophomore Summer, to bond with their class. Indeed, I've heard great and magical things about it, and I am beyond excited for my Sophomore Summer.
This summer, I visited my friends on campus for their Sophomore Summer. I stayed with Ari Graham-Gurland '27 (she's an amazing tour guide; if she leads your campus tour, tell her I say hi) in her dorm! We were then spontaneously flitzed(flirty emailed) by Abby '27 to sunrike (sunrise hike) Moosilauke Mountain, a 4,802-foot-high mountain. Of course, we said yes. While spontaneously sunriking Moosilauke (I made two new best friends—shoutout Sophia '27 and Erin '27) we decided to spontaneously sunsike (sunset hike) Gile Mountain (a short hike very close to campus). In between these hikes, we spontaneously decided to go to Lou's Bakery for breakfast. Long story short: best meal ever, felt like we were doing the Lou's Challenge.
Without further ado, here's my play-by-play narration with (approximate) timestamps of how the (spontaneous) day went!
3:00 am: Wake up after three hours of sleep. Put on layers because it's a little chilly.
6:00 am: Let there be light! The sunrise peeking through the trees is just magical.
6:00 am: Just keep hiking, just keep hiking. Another clear view before the summit, and it absolutely took my breath away.
6:00 am: Smile, you're on camera!
6:00 am: Aaaand…..
6:20 am: 4802 feet of mountain hiked!
6:20 am: Time for some breakfast (an entire challah freshly baked at Hillel, dried mango, peppers, pita, and bars)
9:00 am: Back at Moosilauke cabin. Our sleeping bags and overnight bags are all packed up! Time to head back to campus and eat breakfast at Lou's.
7:00 pm: Second summit of the day: the firetower on top of Gile! Just look at our delightful windswept hair, our wild grins, delirious from two hours of sleep and high on the feeling of life.
