Hi everyone! I'm Julia from Seattle, WA. Reading this blog during my junior and senior years of high school helped me to envision myself on this campus, so this all feels very full-circle. I'm studying QSS and I'm looking forward to taking my French skills abroad later this year in Toulouse. I love cooking/food, watching old Modern Family episodes (my favorite character is Mitch), and finding cozy places to study on campus. Talk to you soon!
From my previous posts, you might not have guessed that I've spent more than seven days stuck in bed over the course of this term. Here's a rundown of a day in my life (sick edition). Spoiler alert: Dartmouth's still pretty great, even from my dorm room.
8:00 a.m.
Wake up with a sore throat. Not again! Email my professor and go back to bed, for now.
10:00 a.m.
Okay, it's time to start some kind of a day. Usually, I'll eat a granola bar from my room. I'm also lucky to have a snack bar near my room loaded with breakfast options.
Can't forget to send a picture home to my parents so that they don't worry about me!
10:30 a.m.
A response comes through from my professor—she said not to worry about missing class and prioritize rest. I take her word for it, and go back to bed (again!). I feel so lucky to go to a school where I have personal relationships with all of my professors. They are always ready to help me, especially when I'm unable to attend class. This reassurance lets me fall back asleep peacefully.
11:30 a.m.
Wake up to some texts from my friends. Being in such a fast-paced academic environment means that you're in a fast-paced social environment, too. Even a few weeks in, I already have people asking how they can help.
12:30 p.m.
My sore throat still hasn't gotten better, so it's time to call Dick's House. I'm pretty sure that I call them more than any other student on this campus. I talk to an on-call nurse, who tells me to drink more water and let her know if anything gets worse. Before hanging up, she emphasized that someone is always available to talk to me about my physical or emotional health. This makes me feel much better because a lot of being sick in college is flat-out FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Knowing that there's someone always ready to help me out really helps calm my emotions.
1:00 p.m.
I order some food from Tuk Tuk Thai Cuisine, which is less than a block away from campus. I pick up my food and head back to my dorm to eat.
2:00 p.m.
Now that I'm done eating, it's time for some homework. I look over the slides from the class that I missed and everything makes sense. I finish a reading for my religion class, and an assignment for French, too.
4:00 p.m.
Nothing left to do but watch some TV! I've been loving Bobby Flay's new show recently, so it's time to tune into that. College is so funny because so much of your time is taken up by extracurriculars. When you can't do those activities, you have a lot of time to kill.
6:00 p.m.
One of my best friends, Addy, brings me some Collis pasta that I ordered for pick-up. Dartmouth has an app where you can use your Dining Dollars for takeout meals. It's a bit unfortunate that I can't use one of my meal swipes since I only have 250 Dining Dollars, but we'll take what we can get! After all, I've been saving up my money for emergency purposes like this (you can learn more about dining at Dartmouth here: https://dining.dartmouth.edu/dining-plans/dining-plan-options). The pasta is delicious, as always (white pasta, plain red sauce, veggies, and pesto).
8:00 p.m.
Time to say goodnight! I want to get to bed early in order to be back in class tomorrow.
It's hard to believe that it has been a year since I wrote my first end-of-fall-term reflection. It felt like only yesterday that I stepped into my dorm room this September, eager to reunite with my friends.
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!
As a second-year at Dartmouth, I've embraced leadership roles that foster community, creativity, and support! Here's a look at how each role has shaped my journey.
