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!
This class is an introduction to the Spanish minor and major courses and, although I did not expect to particularly like it, it not only turned out to be my favourite but it made me start considering a degree in the department!
In this class, we analysed different productions of Latinx American theatre. Prof. Analola Santana was probably the best person I met this year at Dartmouth. Being her student was a very important experience as I try to navigate my potential majors and minors.
In this class, I was able to carve time out of my busy Dartmouth schedule to study and learn my Indigenous language: Krenak. With the help of Prof. Gokke, all students were encouraged to develop a final project that spoke to their community's needs for language learning and revitalisation. It was an extremely important class for me, not only academically, but also for my personal healing process.
I had the honour of spending my sophomore fall in Madrid, taking part in the Spanish FSP. There, Prof. Martín was not only a great professor, responsible for my favourite lecture of the program, but also an incredible company throughout our classes and in-country trips. Great way to wrap up my Spanish minor, honestly!
This was my second class in the NAIS department, and thus it took me one step closer to wrapping up my major. Nonetheless, it was Prof. Powell's genuine charisma and caring personality that made it my favourite of the term!
This course was definitely life changing! Prof. Pochedley, a visiting post-doc of the Potawatomi nation did a great job at keeping the students engaged while teaching us to see the land we inhabit as a source of knowledge and spirituality. In a majority Indigenous classroom, we got to develop individual projects related to our traditional homelands, learning to navigate the world through Native world lenses.
Prof. Gómez is one of those profs I've always wanted to take a class with. His work with the Horror genre in Modern Spanish literatures amazes me, and it was an honour to guide in-class discussions and develop my own research on the themes of science, testimony, and fear.
LING54 is an umbrella course: the actual content of the course may vary each year, but it is the common letter-number code to refer to the course taught abroad by your accompanying Dartmouth Linguistics professor. In this year's Linguistics Foreign Study Program (FSP), LING54 was a 'Language Documentation' class, wonderfully taught by Prof. David Peterson.
Before this class, I had no idea what visual and cultural studies actually encompassed. Every chat with Prof. Broner opened my eyes to a different analysis or method for interpreting literature, and for that, I feel truly lucky! We got to discuss films made by Indigenous women from all over Latin America, exposing the class to distinct ways of interacting with and stewarding the environment.
Anyone who knew me before coming to Dartmouth might be surprised to hear that, as from this Winter term, I have been taking part in the Greek system. It was, originally, one of the things I feared the most about college in the United States. I not only am a naive international student, unaware of the true intricacies of college life in America, but I am also a minority student afraid of taking up certain spaces. However, as I recently found out, Greek life at Dartmouth can be fun! It offers a safe, welcoming environment for everyone — no matter who you are!
Around 60% of Dartmouth students are affiliated with a Greek organization on campus — whether that is a fraternity, a sorority, or a gender-inclusive house. Nonetheless, for my first four terms as a student here, I had no interest in pursuing this life. I guess I simply didn't see the appeal of it, and my choice was well respected by all my friends who decided to "rush a frat." It was only this Winter, when I came back from my study abroad in Madrid, that I got interested in becoming part of this whole system.
Rushing at Dartmouth only begins in your Sophomore Fall (your fourth term as a student). This is a college-implemented policy to make sure students have the appropriate amount of time to get acquainted, reflect, and decide whether they want to engage in Greek life or not. Freshman year, honestly, served me no reasons to pursue this life. I simply did not enjoy the nights I spent in basement parties, and the white-centric, heteronormative culture that is intrinsic to these organizations originally scared me away.
However, this year I had the incredible opportunity to get to know better the gender-inclusive houses. Alpha Theta, the Tabard, and Phi Tau are the three non-gendered organizations on campus. In these places, I have always felt welcomed and loved. At Tabard, the house I chose to rush, I have found an incredible community. I feel like I found a place where I can party, hang out, and chill with people who share my interests and passions — including issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And, my favourite part: I got to do all of this with my boyfriend, Luka, and our best friend, Julie!
Most students have to go back to college after Thanksgiving to take their finals, but not at Dartmouth! We have a six-week winter break, known as "winterim!" Let me tell you how I spent my winterim!
