Hi guys! The name's Tulio (yes, like the guy from Rio) Huggins, and I am navigating my first year at Dartmouth! I am from the beautiful state of Pennsylvania, where I have lived for the past couple of years. I hope to study either Government or History, but I'm open to other majors as well. In my free time, I love to hang out with friends at Christian Union, to paint, and to take pictures! Feel free to ask any questions you might have about Dartmouth. I hope that you all have a blessed day!
It seems like yesterday when my parents dropped me off in front of my dorm, tears flowing from my eyes as I realized I was really in college and I wouldn't see them until Thanksgiving.
But soon, the tears dried. I got settled in. I powered through classes, ROTC, and clubs, and made new friends. And just like that, I realized that it was time for me to head home.
Well, not exactly home — at least not yet. My travel plans have taken me to Panamá for a little bit to see my mom's side of the family and celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. Afterward, I will be back in Pennsylvania for the remainder of the break.
The Big Green Takes Panama City!
Over this time, I am going to continue blogging, showing different aspects of Dartmouth from the perspective of a student with one term under their belt. Other than that, I will be relaxing. It's pretty weird to believe that for the next six weeks, I will not have any tests, grades, papers, or anything of the like. Nevertheless, I am thankful for this unique schedule Dartmouth has. And since I have so much time on my hands, I have created three main goals I want to accomplish over the break.
One, I want to write. When I was in high school, I participated in something called the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which is a global challenge to write a book in one month. Even though NaNoWriMo mainly takes place in November, I am going to try to complete a book throughout December. I am a tad bit nervous about the adventure, but I know it will be an exciting time!
Two, I want to read. My first term at Dartmouth has reignited my passion for reading, and so I want to continue reading over the break. I have six books I want to read every week, with the classic To Kill a Mockingbird as my current book. And who knows? Maybe I will take a quick trip to Barnes & Noble to pick up another.
Finally, I want to paint. The summer before I headed off to Dartmouth, I decided to take up painting and ended up with six paintings in six days. I definitely don't plan on painting every day, but I hope to complete a couple of paintings before I head back to Hanover.
The trio of Huggins kids is back together!
I'm excited about this break, and I am thankful that Dartmouth's breaks allow for the exploration of different interests, whether writing, reading or painting. I'll be sure to update over the break with what I am doing!
The fact that our professor gave us a free textbook of his own design is amazing. With Dartmouth having a ton of free resources, I figured I might as well use some on my younger siblings!
I always knew I would have an on-campus job. It made sense to me—I'd have lots of free time to fill, and it's always nice to have a bit of spare cash for the weekends. Still, I never figured I'd have such an awesome job.
Although I'm not grabbing any burger specials at the Hop or relaxing on the Green in between classes, my first Dartmouth spring is off to a good start. As I promised, I'll be giving updates throughout the term, so here's the first one!
I never would have expected to actually want to do something that entails no showers for five days and sleeping in the woods, but those inconveniences are outweighed by the many reasons why I want to re-experience Trips.
One of the most interesting classes I have taken so far at Dartmouth has been PBPL 5: Introduction to Public Policy, which is taught by Professor Charles Wheelan.
At this point in my life, I know I still have so much to improve on and a myriad of people I want to be inspired by. I wanted to grow not only as a student but also simply as a person, and Dartmouth was exactly what I needed to do just this.
After my first week of classes, I can say I'm happy with my choices so far. I'll definitely share the highlights of the term with you guys, but so far I've enjoyed adapting to the new nature of the term and seeing some of my friends on Zoom.
I have written a few posts about transitioning to the Northeast weather, but after this winter term, I thought I would talk about how I stayed active outside this year! If you're nervous about everything snow at Dartmouth, I hope this helps!
The Big Green Takes Panama City!
The trio of Huggins kids is back together!
