Hey everyone! I'm Simon, a '24 from Lakewood, CO. Outside of class and the Admissions office, where I'm a tour guide and Senior Fellow, you can find me getting involved with campus music groups, spending time with friends at my gender-inclusive Greek house, on a walk in Pine Park, or meticulously tracking my Spotify data. I hope you have lots of fun exploring Dartmouth with me!
Academic Program
Linguistics major, English and Anthropology minor
Favorite Thing Right Now
Othello (the board game, not the Shakespeare play)
I'd known since middle school that I wanted to major in linguistics, but this was my first chance to take a formal linguistics class, and I absolutely couldn't wait! "An introduction to the scientific description of human language," my (virtual, it was fall 2020) LING 1 class covered phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, language revitalization, and so much more! Prof. Coto-Solano couldn't have been a better introduction to Dartmouth linguistics; he's one of the kindest people I've ever met and, of course, unbelievably knowledgeable.
But really, is a hot dog a sandwich? It's all just semantics; take this class to find out! Another Zoom favorite of mine, Prof. Pulju made every day in this course entertaining. I learned so much about the vast changes in perception and meaning that can come from the tiniest change in wording that most people don't even consciously pick up on. I wrote a final paper investigating the gray area between different past tenses in French--classic word nerd stuff, but so much fun.
As a queer language nerd, this course naturally landed squarely at the intersection of my interests. This was my final virtual term at Dartmouth, and Prof. Billings made it a great one! We discussed the ways quotidian language use reinforces misogyny and transphobia, as well as the nuances of negotiating various iterations of femininities and masculinities through language--we all mediate our genders through language every single day, mostly in ways we don't even notice. The highlights were definitely presenting to the class on language and gender in Dorian Electra's "Flamboyant" and coming to a new understanding of my own identity through the sociolinguistic discussions we had throughout the course.
Still amidst the pandemic, I spent my freshman summer at home with my family and working a food service job. Outside of work, I had the chance to let the chaos and intense learning experience that was my first year settle behind me and reflect on how I wanted to shape my Dartmouth experience going forward. My freshman roommate, who's from Massachusetts and I've stayed close with to this day, visited me in Colorado, and I had so much fun showing them around! At the end of the summer, I went back to Hanover a little early to serve as an Orientation Leader and had a great time getting to know the 25s and helping them through their first days on campus in various capacities.
This six-person class with Prof. Stanford was one of the coolest classes I've taken throughout my whole time at Dartmouth. We spent the entire term learning linguistic field methods by doing collaborative research on the Georgian language alongside another Dartmouth student who's a native speaker of the language! I wrote a 45-page paper for this class on Georgian morphosyntax and really enjoyed it; finishing that paper was one of the most fulfilling moments of my Dartmouth career. The small class size was a wonderful chance to bond extensively with my classmates, and I also appreciated the challenge of being the only 24 in the course alongside more experienced Linguistics majors, from whom I learned so much.
This was my first English class at Dartmouth, and the one that made me decide to declare an English minor. Prof. Stuelke, who's fantastic and inspired me to take another class with her (Contemporary American Fiction) my sophomore summer, assembled a brilliant syllabus that introduced us to an array of artistic activism traditions across time and geography. We read theory alongside memoirs, and examined photography and film alongside poetry and painting. Our final project was to create political art of our own, and I had the chance to photograph a number of trans and non-binary Dartmouth students as an exploration of stereotype, homonationalism, and transnormativity. I'm still friends with some of the students I photographed to this day, and it was a great joy to hear and tell the stories of so many of my fellow queer community members on campus!
After Field Methods, I had to take another class with Prof. Stanford, and I was so glad I did! This class was the ten-week, more in-depth version of those "pop/soda/coke" maps that you see online. We explored social speech patterns and how they vary (or don't!) across different geographic regions, genders, cultures, ethnicities, socioeconomic status . . . the list goes on. This is one of my favorite subfields of linguistics, and I'd been excited to take it ever since I found out my freshman fall that it was offered. A large component of the class was an independent group research project; my group did a perceptual dialectology study on how L1 American English speakers (randomly selected from the Novack Café study area) viewed the Malaysian English dialect in comparison to American English. The survey results were fascinating, and I ended the class wishing I could spend another 10 weeks on the material!
In the spirit of sophomore summer and trying new things, I decided to sign up for my very first film class at Dartmouth this term! I had no prior film experience, but every single day in this class was beyond exciting. The primary focus of the class was hands-on learning; every day, we found ourselves attempting a new cameraless film technique, from bleaching film to painting on it to splicing it together (and so much more)! At the end of the quarter, each student made their own film that screened at an open-to-campus event (complete with movie theatre snacks and drinks)! It felt great to see my work on the big screen when just ten weeks ago, I couldn't have told you a single step of the process that would go into creating that final product.
During the last of my five straight terms in Hanover, I really enjoyed this class with Prof. Huang. I'd taken classes in other departments that were crosslisted with WGSS before, but never signed up for a class that was exclusively in the WGSS department; that changed this term, and I'm so glad it did! The syllabus included "scholars and activists from diverse social and geopolitical positions through coalitions across global, regional, national, and local borders, within and beyond the nation-state." Our readings and topics we covered were just as wide-reaching and varied as they sound, from Palestinian feminist collectives to queer diaspora to disability justice activism in the context of the pandemic. At the end of the course, I got to produce a zine with a classmate as a final project!
WinterTāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa New Zealand, and Rarotonga, Cook Islands
I first read about the Linguistics FSP as a high schooler, and it was a big part of what drew me to Dartmouth in the first place, so this program was quite literally a dream come true. I can't say enough good things about this FSP and how transformative it was: the first six weeks were spent at the University of Auckland taking classes with seriously incredible Māori professors on te reo (language) Māori and te ao (world) Māori, followed by four weeks spent in the Cook Islands, doing research for Cook Islands Māori language revitalization initiatives at the University of the South Pacific. Our professors and classes prioritized Indigenous history and perspectives in a way that's almost unheard of in the US, and everything beyond the classroom offered boundless opportunities to learn and make new friends, from watching the sunset on Maungawhau and talking late into the night to snorkeling with turtles on the Rarotonga reef. No small paragraph could do this experience justice, but just know that I truly cannot recommend this FSP enough!
I signed up for this course to have more time in the classroom with Prof. Craig, who was present for much of my FSP in Aotearoa, is a truly incredible teacher and human, and co-taught this class with Dr. Mishra. This course featured an unbelievably wide array of unconventional learning opportunities: we attended weekly yoga nidra sessions and were each paired with an older Community Partner to bond with so as to reflect and process both of our life experiences from our opposite ends of the "life timeline." Our small discussion group, which met for the final hour of class each Wednesday evening, was something I always looked forward to, as we were able to be genuine and vulnerable with one another throughout our discussions, something I've never experienced to quite the same degree that I did in this class.
I wasn't taking classes this summer, but I lived in Hanover and worked full-time for Dartmouth Admissions as a Senior Fellow! This summer, I wrote for 3D magazine, recruited panelists for virtual programming, delivered info sessions, started this blog (of course) and so much more. I really enjoyed that every day is a little different in the Admissions office and learning about how different elements of the office work behind the scenes. Best of all, there are always opportunities to meet new people visiting Dartmouth from all over and hear about their lives! I've linked Sydney's blog post above (she's also a Senior Fellow!) for the inside scoop on working for the Admissions office :)
FallHanover, NH
Most Dartmouth students take their non-summer "off term" sometime during their sophomore or junior year. I changed my D-plan a few times and ultimately ended up with a slightly unconventional off term: senior fall! Since it's my last year here, I stayed in Hanover for my off term to be able to live alongside my friends for one of the last few times. Even though I wasn't in class, I was busy. I continued to work as a Senior Fellow and tour guide in the Admissions office (I loved answering prospective students' questions in Zoom student chats this fall especially) and also worked at two Dartmouth Dining Services locations. I performed in the color guard while acting as a co-social chair for the Dartmouth College Marching Band, and serving as both house manager and webmaster for my Greek house.
I signed up for this class as the final one to complete my English minor, and didn't entirely know what to expect going into it. I've been astounded so far by just how much I've loved it--this winter, you'll probably be able to find me alone at my desk with a cup of tea reading Woolf's work aloud to myself. Prof. Orner, who's an accomplished writer himself, is really encouraging us to really spend quality time one-on-one with the readings, and it's been fantastic for the reader and writer in me, but the reflecting-on-life enjoyer in me as well. Woolf's work seems to evoke ghosts a lot, Prof. Orner pointed out recently, in ways I hadn't previously understood to be possible.
Easy access to the outdoors was one of the biggest reasons I applied Early Decision to Dartmouth. Having lived in the Denver area for my entire life, I was honestly pretty spoiled when it came to all of the astounding natural beauty right outside my front door. One of my favorite hobbies really was just getting outside, whether it was climbing a mountain or backpacking in the Great Sand Dunes (one of the coolest experiences I've ever had), so Dartmouth was automatically pretty high on my list. The Appalachian Trail runs straight through campus! We have the country's largest and oldest collegiate outdoors club! We have our own ski hill! (Yes, I'm from Colorado; no, I don't ski—that's a fairly common question I get on campus tours!)
A photo from when I backpacked in Great Sand Dunes National Park! Not in the Upper Valley, sorry, just evidence of my somewhat bygone outdoorsy era :)
I planned to be as involved as I possibly could be in the outdoors at Dartmouth, but once I got here, that's just not what happened. It wasn't because of a lack of opportunities—I have plenty of friends who are very involved in the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC)—it was just that there were so many other awesome things to do at Dartmouth that I ended up spending my out-of-class time on other pursuits. I'd say that I'm actually significantly less "outdoorsy" at Dartmouth than I was in high school; in fact, I've been hiking probably twice total in the past year, and neither one broke three miles. All this to say, I'm not particularly involved with the outdoors at Dartmouth, and you really don't have to be outdoorsy to enjoy Dartmouth at all.
There are plenty of indoor activities, organizations, and programs for Dartmouth students who aren't super into the outdoors to take advantage of—just take a look at all the other People Places Pines posts—but I think it's worth noting that even if you're not "outdoorsy" in the traditional sense, there are still some huge benefits to having a college campus with this much access and connection to our surrounding natural environment. Here are some of the best ways to take advantage of Dartmouth's truly astounding access to nature, even if you aren't into long hikes, backpacking, and the like!
Pine Park and the golf course paths: I'm basically a Pine Park evangelist. I talked about it in my intro blog, but it's genuinely my favorite spot on campus. Towards the north end of campus, there's a defunct golf course that's been repurposed as open space, with several paths that lead into the woods and down to the river. It's not really a "hike" proper in that it's right on campus, there's no need to bring anything with you, and it's possible to go there and back in 20 minutes, but if I'm ever feeling overwhelmed or like I just need some fresh air, it's the perfect spot to take a short walk and sort through my thoughts, it's my go-to spot. There's something really calming about solitude in the trees by the river, and it's genuinely right here whenever I want it—I've spent sunrises and sunsets alike on those paths, and it's remarkably beneficial for my well-being every single time.
A walk in Pine Park around sunset (featuring the Connecticut River)!
The Connecticut River. Dartmouth is right on the border of New Hampshire and Vermont; the banks of the Connecticut River, which form the state line, are just minutes on foot from the center of campus. There's a swimming dock right by the Ledyard Canoe Club, a sub-club of the DOC that also offers very cheap (sometimes even free) canoe, kayak, and paddleboard rentals to students. Beyond Ledyard, there are a number of rope swings all along the nearby section of the river that offer an exciting alternative to jumping straight in. One of my favorite sophomore summer memories was a day where some friends and I were able to rent canoes for free from Ledyard, paddle up the river a bit, and stop at the rope swing, taking turns flying into the water. It's an exhilarating adrenaline rush, very easy to paddle to without prior experience, and you can get all the equipment you need to get out there from Ledyard!
The stars. I say this to the audience every time I give an info session, but I really mean it; one of the things I loved most when I first came to Dartmouth was just how many stars you can see at night. We're not particularly close to any major city, so the light pollution is pretty low. If you grew up in a city or metro area, the most pleasant surprise of coming to Dartmouth is that every night that there is not significant cloud cover, an almost unbelievable amount of stars are visible. The astronomy department's Shattuck Observatory hosts open viewing on clear Friday nights, but you can head out to the former golf course any time to see millions of stars right on campus. Another of my favorite Dartmouth memories is a night late in my first year fall when I did just that with three friends; we sat in the grass for what felt like hours, marveling at the expanse of the Milky Way and meandering through different conversation topics. The four of us remain very close to this day, and it was one of our strongest bonding moments when we were just starting out at Dartmouth. If you only go stargazing at Dartmouth once, do it with friends your first fall—as cliché as the term "core memory" has become recently, that's what that has become for me.
From a hike I did at Mink Brook freshman year! This was a fairly easy, low-stress hike that I signed up for on Trailhead. I really loved the fall scenery and talking with someone who's one of my best friends to this day.
It's really easy to try an outdoor activity with very little commitment! The DOC maintains an online trip registration platform called Trailhead, and any Dartmouth student can log into it, browse upcoming trips led by students and the Outdoor Programs Office, and sign up for any trip that interests them in seconds. You don't have to be involved in the DOC in any capacity whatsoever to sign up for a trip on Trailhead, and there are many trips planned specifically with beginners in mind. If you want to try a short hike, go paddling for the first time, or learn to rock climb, but you don't want a long-term commitment of any kind, you can check out Trailhead at any time just to try something new and see how you like it! Dartmouth has plenty of indoor activities as well, don't get me wrong, but even the most avid indoors person will be able to benefit in so many ways from our close ties to nature even beyond this list, from ice skating on Occom Pond to spending nights in DOC cabins free of charge—this is just the beginning!
It's easy to forget how easy it is to access walking trails during the hustle of a Dartmouth term. As graduation nears, I am reminded of how special it is to step off campus and enjoy quiet moments in nature.
With a solar eclipse sweeping across North America for the first time in nearly seven years on April 8th came a road-trip with hundreds of other Dartmouth students to a zone of totality near campus: St. Johnsbury, Vermont!
