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.
The space I live in is very important to me, and creating a new space was a cause of concern when going to college. Incoming first-year students at Dartmouth will complete a housing form, which sorts them into one of six housing communities. Housing communities have their own dorm buildings, and students will stay within their housing community's dorms for all four years at Dartmouth—unless they choose to live off campus.
I have found on-campus housing beneficial because I love studying with my friends and being able to access my room at any moment throughout the day. While living on campus is mandatory for first-years, some of my friends chose off-campus housing options for their sophomore year. Specifically, they live at Summit on Juniper, an apartment complex about 20 minutes away from campus by bus.
At Summit, there are singles, doubles, triples, and quadruples available! My friends live in a double, which includes two bedrooms with a private full bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. My friends even hosted a cooking day there, which was incredibly fun! A grocery store is nearby, and the kitchen includes a fridge, microwave, stove, oven, and dishwasher. Some of my friends chose to live at Summit because they love cooking, and having a personal kitchen is a major plus!
Cooking at Summit!
From personal priorities, one key advantage of living at Summit is the personal full bathroom. Depending on your dorm, there are different types of bathroom arrangements. For instance, some dorms have communal bathrooms, whereas others have personal full or half baths. Summit almost guarantees you will have a full bathroom—even if you can't get a dorm with one in your second year onwards.
While Summit is 20 minutes from campus, the Dartmouth Campus Connector Bus runs seven days a week. The bus runs every 30 minutes on weekdays from 7 am to 10 pm and every hour from 10 pm to 2:45 am. On Fridays, the bus runs every 30 minutes from 7 am to 2:45 am on the next day. On weekends, the bus starts running at 9 am. My friends note that these times are enough for daily activities and commitments.
Off-campus housing is an excellent opportunity to separate your personal life from classes and on-campus commitments. My friends have found that the privacy and personal space are worth the commute for them. Maybe I will write an update if I decide to live there in the coming terms!
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
