Ei! My name is Antônio Jorge Medeiros Batista Silva (yes—four last names!) and I'm a '25 from Governador Valadares, Brazil. My journey to Dartmouth has crossed two continents, three countries, and over 10 schools—and I'm a strong believer that everyone's path to the Big Green was unique in a way. At Dartmouth, I study Linguistics, Native American & Indigenous Studies, and Spanish. I am passionate about social justice, language-learning, and the oxford comma!
If you were not aware already, from September 15 through October 15, Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States. As an international student coming from Brazil, I was genuinely excited to experience a month of commemoration to the place and culture I call home.
Something you need to know about Dartmouth, however, is that students take any opportunity to have fun very seriously! Latinx Heritage Month was an incredible time for me - I got to go on a trip off-campus, party with friends, and bond with the Latinx community on campus.
At the beginning of the month, the Latinx and Caribbean Council (LCC) organized an overnight stay at one of Dartmouth's lodges. This means that approximately twenty Latinx students got the chance to explore the Upper Valley's outdoors together, listening to Hispanic music, dancing, and making friends with whom we can share and celebrate our cultures.
LCC trip to the lodge!
In the same week, the Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL) put together an incredible night of roller skating and dancing at Collis - one of the most popular common spaces for students to hang out.
On the next weekend, the Dartmouth Brazilian Society invited all of its members - along with students from the Portuguese program - to have lunch together. I helped organize the event, and it gave me a great chance to get closer to my Brazilian mates and to the Portuguese language professors on campus. We played Brazilian music, danced to our classic rhythms, and ate feijoada - a traditional Brazilian dish.
Lunch with the Dartmouth Brazilian Society!
Because I had the privilege of doing high school abroad at a boarding school, celebrating my identity is very important for me. I like feeling like, even thousands of miles away from home, I can still find comfort in who I am. I get genuinely excited to share my culture with people who understand and appreciate it. At Dartmouth, I was amazed by the number of opportunities I had to immerse myself in Latinx spaces and activities.
Now, even though Latinx Heritage Month has officially ended, I cannot wait to engage with the community in long-term projects. In the last two years, students have been organizing themselves in the LCC, and I have recently found a home in the club's meetings.
Starting college is an exciting transition, but it can also come with its share of challenges. Luckily, students have access to a wide range of free mental health resources at Dartmouth, one of which is the Counseling Center.
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Greta Richardson '26, an engineering major, showed me around her room in her off-campus apartment, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
I wrote my "Why Dartmouth?" essay a little under two years ago, and I've had a year in-between to fully experience Dartmouth: how I've grown, changed, and how Dartmouth has been a part of all of it.
