First, I'll explain who I am. I'm Nicholas Sugiarto, a '23 from San Diego, California. Second, a quick disclaimer. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Prior to Dartmouth, I've never hiked, skied, or seen snow. So yeah, you could say that Dartmouth is quite a bit different from what I'm used to. You'll probably find me on campus lost. I have no sense of direction. Please help.
A class studying how Christian language has permeated into how we as a society talk about economics. I have virtually no interest in either field as a major, nor am I really religious, but the class is super fun! It challenges you to think in ways that aren't outstandingly obvious, but get more and more interesting if you're willing to put the time in to thinking about them. It's by no means your traditional class. At least in the high school I came from, the idea of dedicating an entire term to a topic as niche as this is unheard of. But honestly? That just makes it so much more fulfilling. Like most Dartmouth classes, there's a ton of freedom to explore topics that interest you. For my final term paper, since I'm a huge hip hop fan, I wrote about the religious and economic underpinnings of Kendrick Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost." Without diving too deep into the jargon, I argued that money according to Kendrick Lamar, is defined by Western capitalism heavily intertwined with American Prosperity Gospel; its true nature, on the other hand, is a form of spiritual exchange. I loved this class so much that I was able to take my professor out to breakfast (on Dartmouth's dime, of course. Quick college lesson, never, ever pay for food. Live life Aladdin style.).
For those that don't know, Writing 5 is a class that's mandated for all Freshman. It helps you adjust to college writing, research, all that good stuff. There's a ton of topics to choose from, ranging from the criminal justice system to how food affects your mind. I personally chose "Pursuit of Happiness" because, well, who doesn't want to be happy? This class was my first intro to what the Dartmouth academic experience is really about. It was a small class of only 16 strong where classes were discussion-based and the professor's door is always open. It goes without saying that the course was immensely interesting (is there really a way to make happiness boring?), and we studied a vast majority of topics from Aristotle to Voltaire to Biochemical research studies. I tell incoming students all the time that if you want to make the most of your Dartmouth experience, take classes that interest you and make what you do with those classes interesting too. There's nothing more painful than having to write a paper on a topic you find absolutely mind-numbingly dull. Given my fascination with stand up comedy, I focused on viewing comedy as a form of happiness, starting from comedy in relation to Camus's absurd, the higher prevalence of mental illness in comedians, and what kind of comedians deserve happiness. Honestly? Even though this class was technically "mandatory," I would have taken it regardless.
This is the class I'm currently taking, and it's by far my favorite. You couldn't tell by my posts, or my favorite classes I listed earlier, but I'm actually a huge STEM guy. I'm a biomedical engineering major for a reason, and Dartmouth classes really make STEM fun. They're also so easy a child could follow them. Literally. I'm using the computer science 1 curriculum to teach my little sister coding. At a slower pace of course. She's not THAT smart (yet). I've never tried coding before, but the task-based approach of the CS department really makes things interesting. So far, we've drawn a children's book/ logo, a chalkboard drawing (I drew the Kanye bear), and a retro pong game. There's something fun about solving puzzles for a grade, and even though the course is admittedly pretty challenging at times, it's so worth it.
On my way back to Hanover! Taking the Dartmouth Coach back to Hanover. And wearing a mask of course
Because of this pandemic, I've been off-campus my freshman spring, summer, and sophomore fall, which is especially surreal since I've really been on campus for two terms: freshman fall and winter. So now that I'm finally back on campus, it's been so long that it really feels like I'm a freshman discovering Hanover for the first time. Everything just seems so new again.
Even coming back to Dartmouth was surreal. I took the Dartmouth Coach to campus. For those of you who don't know, the Dartmouth Coach is the bus line that runs between the Boston airport and Hanover. It serves almost exclusively the Dartmouth community because, let's face it, unless you're going to the college there's no reason for you to come to Hanover.
The Dartmouth Coach! Complete with power outlets, radio stations, and social distancing measures
Admittedly, part of me was scared of taking the bus. In my experience, the bus to Dartmouth when you're coming to campus is packed, which is not ideal in the time of coronavirus. Luckily, though, the Dartmouth Coach doubled the amount of buses they were running, and I essentially had a whole row to myself. Not really something to complain about.
Free masks and hand sanitizer! Personally, I'm a bit glad they went discreet with the Dartmouth logo and didn't have way it blown up taking the whole mask. But even if it did, a free mask is a free mask.
Even when I got to campus it's pretty clear that they're taking coronavirus seriously. I mean, once I got to my dorm there was just a massive bag of free masks waiting for me, and hand sanitizer. And none of that off-brand, labelless stuff either. I mean GermX. The good kind that doesn't dry out your hands. I feel like a king.
And of course, the facilities aren't bad either. Part of my biggest fear coming back to school was that I was going to spend pretty much 80% of my time in my room, with 90% of that being at my desk. I didn't expect much. Just enough space for my laptop, keyboard, maybe a notebook. I didn't really expect a desk as big as I got. Like literally long enough to sleep on. Long enough that I can shove all my disorganized garbage to the edge of my desk and still give off the appearance of a clean desk when I take this photo. Back at home, I had to do all my homework with my laptop in front of me and a notebook on my lap, so it's definitely an upgrade to actually have enough space to put down my notebook.
My desk and study space! Admittedly, I switched to a more productive-looking screen to hide the fact that I was watching Key and Peele sketches before taking this photo
This term is definitely going to be different. But from the massive amount of free masks and spaced out buses, I'm glad that Dartmouth is really doing everything it can to keep us safe—especially given that some of our students are immunocompromised. Honestly? I'm really looking forward to this term. Let's see how it goes.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
