Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog, also known as my digital diary. I'm majoring in Asian Studies modified with Business, a new program here at Dartmouth, so feel free to ask me anything related to that. Beyond the classroom, I love the Dartmouth sunsets, the traditions, the classes, the merch, and the people, of course. Come along with me as I explore the ins and outs of life in the woods.
A course that definitely surprised me, I did not know what to expect and had very little philosophical knowledge before taking this course. It was a mixture of current and past readings, with the final project to make a group video, testing my technological ability. Professor Bumpus was amazing, and I got to know her more when I took her to breakfast at Pine through the Take Your Professor to Lunch Program.
I was recommended to take a history course, specifically a history course with Professor Lu, and it has not disappointed! This course is cross listed with Asian Studies, my major, but it has made me consider a history minor... We start every class off with a song relating to the topic of that class, and then we move on to discussion based activities.
So far, the Dartmouth classes I have taken have been all based around discussion and essay writing. As an Asian Studies and Government major, I expected that the rest of my time at Dartmouth would follow a similar pattern, but in fact a pre-requisite for the Government major is a Political Analysis class. This class involves coding, analyzing survey samples, and other quantitative methods. The professor is amazing—a friend and I got to know him better by taking him out to breakfast at Pine through the 'Take Your Professor to Lunch' program. The final group project involves making projections for the 2024 elections using past data. Although, obviously, this election already happened, some of our predictions were more accurate than the polls! It is super interesting to take a class that I can see the themes in real world news outlets.
I love cooking, whether it be pasta, stir fry, or dessert. So, one thing I was worried about coming to college was a potential lack of access to cooking facilities. However, having been at Dartmouth, even though I am on a full meal plan, there have been ample opportunities to cook! Let's get into them.
Quick Bites
As I'm living in my off-campus apartment, I have access to a full kitchen. There is also a Co-op Food Store right across the street from us. So, when I want to quickly chef something up for dinner, it is incredibly convenient to grab something to put together. My favorite is a mac and cheese, with a side of salad. When I'm at Summit on Juniper—an off-campus housing complex—and want a meal for minimal effort, the vending machines (known as Fresh Zones) stock ready-made meals.
Fresh produce!
Special Occasions
My flatmate, Ashley, and I decided that we wanted to host a dinner party at our apartment, a special occasion because we don't really have the opportunity to do such things on campus. On the menu was a pasta bake, broccolini, and an apple crumble. That morning, we went apple picking at a nearby orchard in preparation for our crumble, followed by a shop at the Co-op. Anticipating delays, we started cooking early, and had a great rhythm going. By the time our guests arrived, we were right on schedule, taking the pasta bake out of the oven right as they walked in. The dinner party was a hit; everyone enjoyed the food, and Ashley and I had a great time making it.
To my surprise, a week after my dinner party, I was invited to another dinner, but this time on campus. Each dorm hall has a large kitchen, and my friend decided to utilize it. Her only instructions were to 'dress fancy.' And everyone who was invited definitely showed up and showed out! The music we had playing, along with the wonderful aroma of the vegetable fried rice was enough to draw in people walking by.
Who wants some pasta?
Cookie Chaos
As I am mainly a sweet treat connoisseur, I really wanted to have a cookie baking night. And so, like our last dinner party, a friend of mine made the trek to Summit to start the baking process. For some reason, we decided to not use a recipe, and just guess-timate what ingredients we needed and in what quantities. The batter was looking promising, but after we took them out of the oven, we realized that something had gone wrong. For some reason, they hadn't become flat, instead had just stayed in the balls that we had formed them into on the baking tray. They still tasted good, though!
Charlotte and our cookies
All in all, cooking at Dartmouth has turned out to be one of the most fun and unexpected parts of my college experience. Whether it's throwing together a quick dinner, baking (slightly questionable) cookies, or hosting a full dinner party with friends, I've found there are plenty of ways to continue my love for cooking.
