Hi! I'm TaeJun (but my friends call me TJ), and I come from the beautiful city of Tokyo, Japan. Although I am Korean by nationality, I have lived in Japan for over ten years due to my dad's work. I am a huge theatre/musical geek, and I have a long bucket list of Broadway musicals that I want to get around to very soon! I also love traveling, and I hope to crisscross the globe through Dartmouth's amazing study abroad and foreign study programs.
That was my reaction when I first heard of the small town of Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College.
Now, before you start criticizing my knowledge of the Upper Valley area, I'm from the bustling city of Tokyo, Japan, 10,607km (or 6,591miles as y'all Americans would say!) away from the serenity of New Hampshire, so I'm justified in my initial ignorance, I hope!
A little bit about myself: I'm Korean by nationality, but when I was five years old, I moved to Japan because of my father's work. Except for short stints back in Korea here and there, I was educated and raised in Japan, going to Japanese kindergarten initially but attending international schools in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya thereafter. For those of you who haven't visited Japan, you definitely should, because it is such a beautiful place with amazing food and culture.
How did I end up so far away from home?
As much as I loved living in Japan, I couldn't help feeling that I wanted to leave Asia as soon as possible. I'd lived in Asia all my life, and I wanted to see more of the world and be educated in an environment that valued creativity and academic flexibility - something I thought that many Asian universities lacked.
It's been about a little over one week since term started here at Dartmouth. Within that small time period, however, I have come to fully appreciate Dartmouth's unique academic environment that stresses quality undergraduate teaching (we are famous for this!) while in true spirit of the liberal arts, encourages students to explore a variety of different courses, subject areas, and modules that help create new academic interests or complement existing ones. Moreover, there are so so many opportunities - both co-curricular and extracurricular - here on campus. I'm already having a hard time choosing between the many clubs and teams that I am interested in. More on that in later posts.
A couple of my floor-mates and myself on matriculation day!
The prospect of going to college overseas so far away from home is indeed a daunting one. What I encourage all of my international readers out there to do is always to keep an open mind when it comes to colleges. Please don't rule out Dartmouth (or any other U.S. college for that matter) because it may be unfamiliar territory. Of course, it isn't for everyone, but I can confidently tell you that the fantastic resources, opportunities, and friends you will find here at Dartmouth are definitely one of a kind.
And no, Hanover is not in Germany. At least not the Hanover I love. :)
In a world where proper social distancing is so important, Novack Café has fulfilled a unique desire for current on-campus students; it's a place to study, hang out with friends, and grab a snack—all while staying COVID safe.
The last week of October was especially ~spooky~ as I was able to find more time than usual to enjoy my weekend with friends and the small-town-charm of Hanover.
While the student body at the College may be relatively small, students here recognize that their vote can hold a lot of weight in New Hampshire, a classic swing state.
I was recently looking at some of my older posts, reliving the glory days of freshman fall, and I realized that I never actually wrote an introduction post talking about myself! But better late than never, right?
After walking around campus all day in eye-catching attire, we headed to a Murder Mystery night hosted by Phi Tau (a fraternity) in one of the tents scattered around campus.
My personal visit to Dartmouth was a huge factor in my decision to apply, so in honor of Week 7, I hope this blog post can virtually illustrate some of what Dartmouth has to offer in seven images – worth 7,000 words!
As a member of multiple performance groups on campus, I thought I'd give you a bit of background info on the opportunities here and discuss what we've been up to!
