Hi everyone! I'm Yehalah and I'm a '26 coming all the way from Colombo, Sri Lanka. My academic passions lie in Energy Engineering and Environmental Studies. I am a first-generation and low-income student, actively involved with the community. I love to paint and read during my free time. I'm excited that you're here, and I hope you enjoy this account of my life at Dartmouth!
The sequel to Drawing 1! Undoubtedly harder, but definitely a great class. I can now say, with confidence, that I am able to paint a mango successfully.
The Sacred Architecture of Asia is one of the most incredible courses I have taken at Dartmouth! The course is primarily discussion-based, with Professor Seher explaining and initiating conversation about the course material.
I spent Easter Weekend this year in Prague. Despite the fact that we had just landed in Berlin, we had a long weekend, and everyone wanted to explore! A large group of us decided that we wanted to visit Prague, which is only a train ride away from Berlin.
The four-hour ride to Prague was incredibly scenic, boasting beautiful fields in the countryside. When we finally arrived at the station, we walked to our hostel and immediately realised how different the city was. There were cobbled streets and ancient architecture. It was like walking through a museum, except the entire city was one.
On Saturday morning, we woke up early to explore the city and had Trdelnicks for breakfast! Trdelnicks are the signature Czech ice cream cones and they were delicious, despite being way too much ice cream for one person. We walked across Charles Bridge, which was beautiful. It was a warm day, and the bridge had artists painting tourists and many musicians. We made our way across the city, stopping at little stores to try local cuisine.
The Trdelnicks we had!
Towards the afternoon, we headed up a hill to Prague Castle, which was built in the 9th Century and is one of the largest castle complexes in the world. We were able to obtain student tickets, with our Freie Universität student identification cards. Within the complex was a vast cathedral with the most intricate mosaic glass windows I have ever seen. The residence halls themselves paled in comparison to the cathedral.
One of the many beautiful glass windows!
Our last stop that evening was a river cruise! The cruise took us through all the important landmarks, and we were lucky enough to see the sunset during the ride. Afterwards, we had a great dinner at a Mexican restaraunt! The food in Prague was extremely affordable and delicious.
On Easter Sunday, we got to explore some amazing markets, with a variety of local art and cuisine. I even got to attend a church service in the morning, at a small church near our hostel. Before our train ride back, I headed to the post office to mail some postcards to family and friends.
Studying abroad has given me so many opportunities to explore new cultures and places! I am loving my time in Berlin, and I am so excited to keep exploring.
Could you explain how a bicycle works? How about on paper? Now, what about a windmill?—this my class "The Way Things Work: A Visual Introduction to Engineering"
Dartmouth doesn't just care about the intellectual state of student minds but also their health and happiness. Through this week's monastic programming, I have found our commitment to mental health to be loud and clear.
