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Yehalah Fernando

Class of 2026
An image of a student in a botanical garden
Bio 

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 sustainability. 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!

Academic Program 

Energy Engineering

Favorite Thing Right Now 

Watching movies with friends!

Hometown 

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Pronouns 

she/her/hers

You are here

Yehalah's D-Plan

What's a D-Plan?

    • FallHanover, New Hampshire

      Favorite Class: SART 015: Drawing 1

      Taking an art class has long been a dream of mine. Drawing 1 with Professor Enrico Riley exceeded my expectations greatly! He is an inspiring instructor who allowed us creative freedom, while guiding us in the right direction. We drew in different forms of charcoal, with colour introduced towards the end of the term. I loved my experience and I cannot wait to take another Studio Art class!

    • WinterHanover, New Hampshire

      Favorite Class: SART 025: Painting 1

      The sequel to Drawing 1 with Professor Enrico Riley! We worked in oil paint, which I was completely new to and admittedly afraid to use. I ended up falling in love with the medium and the flexibility it gave me to adjust and refine my paintings at any point in the process. I am sad to finish this class and I hope I get to take another Studio Art class in the future!

    • SpringHanover, New Hampshire

      Favorite Class: HIST 07.37: Race, Nation and Ethnicity

      Moving to America was a drastic adjustment, especially considering the difference in perception of race and ethnicity. This class gave me a insight into past and current American oppression against Black and Indigenous communities. I loved how much I learnt through this class, which was also my First Year Seminar requirement.

    • SummerColombo, Sri Lanka

      Taking a break at home with good food and family!

    • FallHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: GERM 1: Introductory German

      My first language class at Dartmouth! Taking German was intimidating, especially because of the fast-paced and rigorous learning method that Dartmouth uses. It was so interesting to learn the different grammar and rules used in the German language. I cannot wait to use my Beginner German skills in Berlin next Spring!

    • WinterHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: ARTH 38.01: Sacred Architecture of Asia

      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 material assigned was incredibly inspiring and taught me so much about South Asian religions and their beginnings. Everywhere I travel now, I think about the lessons I have learnt in this class and I am truly grateful to Professor Seher for facilitating an incredible learning experience!

    • SpringBerlin, Germany

      Favorite Class: GERM 44.07: Metropolis Berlin

      Learning about German history in Berlin was a great way to explore the city and culture! The class had weekly excursions where we visited important sites in Berlin, which was so informative and helpful. Overall, I learnt so many new aspects of Germany and the people who played a significant role in German history.

    • SummerPerrysburg, Ohio

      Interning at First Solar, a solar panel manufacturing company! I work on the Application Engineering team under Product Management, developing ways to better serve our clients and enhance our products. It has been an amazing experience so far, I have learnt so much and I am so grateful for this opportunity!

    • FallHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: ENGS 33: Solid Mechanics

      Solid mechanics is a class all about stress, strain and structure. My favorite part about this class was getting to design, 3D model and construct a wooden bridge from scratch! Using SOLIDWORKS to perform FEA analysis and a laser-cutting machine, my group and I put together a model bridge that held four times more that the desired weight! It was an awesome experience to put our classroom theory into practice. This has been the most exciting engineering class I have taken so far!

    • WinterHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: COLT19.01 Translation: Theory & Practice

      Taken for my language requirement, this class involved translating multiple documents from my native language (Sinhala) to English! I loved getting to know more about ancient texts in Sri Lanka, and finding out about words I had no idea existed. My final project was translating some scenes from the movie Gamperaliya (ගම්පෙරළිය), analyzing the language forms, and presenting them to the class!

    • SpringHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: ENGS 29: Computer-Aided Design and Kinematics

      Focused on Computer-Aided Design (CAD), this class took me from a beginner in SOLIDWORKS to passing the SOLIDWORKS Certified Associate test with a perfect score! We learnt about master modelling, kinematics and how to think about mechanical design. For our final project of making a walking dinosaur, I designed a pterodactyl!

    • FallHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: ARTH 29.06: Slow Looking in Paris

      I had the best time exploring art history in the center of the (European) art world: Paris! For 3 weeks, I bounced between Parisian museums such as the Louvre, Musée Condé, Musée d'Orsay, Palace of Versailles, and many more. For our final paper, I picked Imaginary View of the Grande Gallery in the Louvre in Ruins by Hubert Robert, with which I spent hours looking at, in an attempt to decipher its meaning and intent! I cannot emphasize how much I learnt about art history through this program and the guidance of Professor Katie Hornstein.

Socializing (In, Around, and Other Than Hanover)

Staying connected to significant people in my life is very important to my emotional well being at Dartmouth. Here are some ways I stay social around Hanover and a little bit away in Boston!

  1. No. 1

    Community

    An image of a table with arts and crafts for Valentines

    As an avid member of the first-generation community and the Communications Student Director for the First Generation Office, I attend their events quite often. Since my first year at Dartmouth, the first generation community has been important to me, and I find their events refreshingly student-focused and fun! Recently, we hosted a Valentine’s Crafternoon with candy, crafts and letter writing. 

     

  2. No. 2

    Arts and Culture

    An image of mummified animals at the MFA, Boston

    I recently took a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, through my class ARTH 10.03 Art in Egypt (Mummified animals pictured above). Just a few hours away by bus, it was great to spend a day looking and learning about Egyptian Art in Boston. However, you do not need to travel to Boston to experience artwork. The Hood Museum of Art, holds an amazing collection of items, and is free to visit for everyone! Some classes also require field trips to this museum. One museum I would highly recommend if you have a chance to travel to Boston, is the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum! It has a unique collection and set up that I have not experienced at any other museum. It also has a lovely garden that is so refreshing in the middle of a cold winter

     

     

  3. No. 3

    Bites and Drinks

    An image of 2 students at Mollys restaurant

    My favourite way to socialize is over a meal! While regular dining options such as Class of ‘53 Commons and Courtyard Cafe are great options to grab a meal with friends, I love occasionally taking a trip (walk) into town! Some of my regular sites are Molly’s (pictured above), Tacos y Tequila, and Sushiya! There are options for every occasion; birthdays, casual nights out, and when you are really craving some great Asian food. As always, these barely scratch the surface of exciting things you can do to socialize in and around Hanover. It is all a part of the fun to discover new things every term that I am at Dartmouth! 

     

Posted 03/20/2026 at 9:00 AMAll List Posts
An image of Hiriketiya Bay, Sri Lanka. Credits:

Summer Reflections!

Summers between terms look different for every Dartmouth student! Opportunities are abundant and it's all what you make it out to be. This summer I interned on the Clean Energy Team at Wood PLC and traveled home to see my sister get married!

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Posted 09/26/2025 at 9:00 AMAll Text Posts

Weekend Shenanigans

A weekend of embracing the cold and finding fun activities to do! From winning money at a game show to the Annual Snowball Fight, this weekend is a core memory of my experience with Dartmouth winters!

  1. No. 1

    Collis Game Show

    An image of four students sitting on a stage behind a screen that features a Jeopardy game.

    Our first stop this weekend was the Game Show hosted by Collis After Dark, a program that runs free late night events for students in the Collis Student Center! Featuring famous game shows like Price is Right and Jeopardy, it was a night to win big. My friends and I all won prizes, ranging from $50 to $250! With popcorn and drinks, it was a great way to relax and enjoy a Friday night at Dartmouth. These types of events are free and open to all students!

  2. No. 2

    Ice Skating Occom Pond

    An image of two students standing in ice skates on a frozen pond

    Next up this weekend was ice skating at Occom Pond! Occom Pond is a small lake within Dartmouth that is a 20 minute walk from the heart of campus. The Dartmouth Outing Club House is next to the lake and gives out free rentals for ice skates. We headed down to test our ice skating skills but ended up staying for the hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows! Occom Pond was completely frozen over, but still had snow and was too bumpy for my amateur skills. Luckily there were dustbins at hand to help us!

  3. No. 3

    Winter Crafts at Collis

    An image of a painting of a sea from the roadside, with boats on the water and land in the distance.

    On Saturday night, I attended another Collis After Dark event, featuring a DIY Winter Crafts Session! This event included DIY snow globes, giant paper snowflakes, paintings and Build-a-Bear! I spent the night painting a scene from the South of Sri Lanka.

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Posted 02/16/2025 at 9:00 AMAll List Posts
An image of a student holding a water bottle and weaning a beanie that reads "First-Gen Proud"

First-Gen Week!

The first-generation community at Dartmouth is an extremely tight knit and supportive community! This past week, we celebrated first-gen week, with a myriad of activities and lots of chances to meet new people!

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Posted 02/13/2025 at 9:00 AMAll Text Posts

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