你好! Or Hi! My name is Taylor, and I'm a '27 from Beijing, China. I'm hoping to major in Mathematics and minor in Religion. Outside of the classroom, you can find me going on hikes with the Dartmouth Outing Club, drawing or crafting at the jewelry studio, or having fun, philosophical conversations with friends!
Dartmouth has many hidden gems, and sometimes you can take it literally! With a free afternoon on my hand this Wednesday, I explored the Donald Claflin Jewelry Studio and made a necklace
The jewelry studio is located on the third floor of the Black Visual Arts Center (BVAC). With an appointment online, you can come on weekday afternoons and make anything you want for about 1.5 hours—and the best thing is, you only have to pay for the materials you used! The BVAC, the Hopkins Center for the Arts, and the Hood Museum make up an arts cluster at the southeastern corner of campus, offering students and local people many opportunities to engage in the dialogue and making of the arts.
As soon as I entered the jewelry studio, I was shocked—or amazed by how well-equipped this maker-space is—from beads of all kinds to precious stones and metals and to all types of fancy tools for metal smithing (and a lava lamp for decoration! How cool is this!), you can make any jewelry you want to make—necklaces, bracelets, rings, pendants, etc. Even if you do not have a specific idea of what to make, the exhibition board of jewelry can be a great inspiration and starting point for beginners (as shown in the featured image).
The jewelry studio!
I decided to make a necklace. Starting from the selection of beads for my necklace, I was dazzled by the studio's bead collection: from a pot of free colorful beads to a cupboard of shimmering beads categorized by color, the collection was like a black hole, deeply attracting me and making it extra hard for me to decide what beads should I use. In the end, with the help of a lovely artist (also a Dartmouth '23 who's staying on campus doing research), I made this:
As someone who has practiced studio arts for about ten years, I am excited and grateful to discover Dartmouth's student workshops. With these extraordinarily affordable and marvelous art spaces open to students and the public, I love seeing how Dartmouth takes real action to popularize art. Everyone here is encouraged and empowered to try something new, to express sparkles of imagination through art, and to become an artist
Dartmouth is not just a college. With world-renowned graduate schools, why would we choose to call ourselves a college instead of a university? The story behind that decision dates back to a significant Supreme Court ruling.
On a quiet spring Saturday in Hanover, I traded the usual campus buzz for Monet in the morning and archery in the afternoon—a reminder that Dartmouth weekends can be just as meaningful when they're slow, reflective, and a little unexpected.
During my sophomore spring quarter, I took on the challenge of four STEM courses, and while it has been intense, the unexpected connections across subjects and the joy of learning have made it one of my most rewarding academic experiences yet.
Read about the Sophomore Summer Soiree and how I got to witness the beginning of something that hopefully grows into a long-standing Dartmouth tradition!
Here is my list of the restaurants in Hanover within walking distance of Dartmouth. Whether you're touring campus for the first time or are a Dartmouth student in need of a new place to eat, feel free to reference this list!
As I approach the end of my first year at Dartmouth, I would like to reflect on some of the experiences and lessons I've learned throughout this school year.
