I'm Kalina, a '27 from Sofia, Bulgaria. I love books (I love reading and writing them), and I particularly love fantasy (i.e., I'm an expert on Middle Earth and Hogwarts studies). I'm fascinated by the human brain and the real-world magic of science. I also love hiking, bird-watching, climbing, and em dashes.
Instead of taking a normal Writing 5 course, I decided to fulfill my first-year writing requirement by taking HUM 1. This course helped me strengthen my relationship to literature and writing. It changed the way in which I thought about classics, both books and movies (we saw Wall-E, by the way). And it also changed the way I thought about academic writing and literary criticism. A third of the course was made up of lectures by professors from different departments, while the other two thirds were discussions with a single professor and a small group of 15 students.
Intro to Neuroscience was the first course I was truly excited about. It wasn't an easy course; we had a weekly quiz of ten to thirteen questions covering the lectures from the past few days, but it was very interesting and also very funny (Professor Winter's humor is legendary). We learned about the human brain at the level of individual cells. We also studied it at the level of different systems, from the olfactory system to the parasympathetic nervous system. And last, we learned about cognition: learning, attention, language. We saw a real human brain with formaldehyde dripping from it. We saw a real sheep's brain. And a rat's brain. And we pocked each other with paper clips to determine the sensitivity of our touch receptors.
Journalism with Professor Alexis Jetter was an enjoyable class, sometimes challenging but very satisfying. We covered a lot of US history through the lens of the media, and we started every class with a discussion of the current news and events (thanks to these discussions, I feel like a real adult now—not so lost when the conversation turns toward politics). Several guest lecturers—from former students of Professor Jetter who're now journalists to a New York Times war correspondent—brought us real stories from the field. In the middle of the term, each of us had to find someone over 30 years old in the Upper Valley, spend a day with them, and write a profile.
SummerSofia, Bulgaria
I'm spending my first summer back home, helping my family care for my newborn sister. In my free time (changing diapers takes a lot of time!), I'm doing research for the cognitive neuroscience lab FINN Lab, preparing for my classes in the fall, and working on a new book.
There are many ways in which you can be part of the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) community. You can go on outdoor trips across New Hampshire, and you can also go to other states, like Vermont or Utah (read about my recent DOC adventure in Utah here). You can also be a trip leader (more or trips leaders here.) Or you can be a sub-club's chairman, secretary, treasurer, or any other position Another amazing way to be part of the DOC community is by going to feeds.
Wait. What IS a feed? A feed basically means this: a bunch of people from a given DOC sub-club* gather together, either at someone's apartment or at a Living Learning Community space or at the Rock**, and they cook for everybody in the club. Sub-clubs usually have budgets that allow the "cooks" to buy the needed products. After dinner is prepared, the other members of the sub-club arrive, and all members of the club have dinner together. That's a feed.
I wasn't quite sure what a DOC feed was back in my freshman fall. I remember signing up for a Flora and Fauna feed, but I never actually attended it. The event was in somebody's house, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find it. Also, the very thought of me going to an upperclassman's home and knocking on their door seemed terrifying. So I bailed and never showed up. Big mistake. Feeds are an amazing place to make new friends from all class years and talk to great people while having a home-cooked dinner.
Here's Wyatt, one of the founders of the Flora and Fauna Club, preparing some sauce for the pasta we had.
Now that I've been to a few feeds, I can't really tell you which I enjoy more: going to the feed and talking to people whom I wouldn't have otherwise approached at a regular club meeting or arriving an hour earlier and preparing dinner myself, laughing with friends while chopping onions and bell peppers. They are both great experiences. I don't think I'll be missing out on many other feeds.
Here's Duda, a Cabin and Trail and Flora and Flora leader, helping prepare the FnF dinner
Notes:
*The Dartmouth Outing Club consists of many sub-clubs: from my favorite Flora and Fauna to Ledyard Canoe Club to the Archery Club to... yup, there are a LOT of sub-clubs.
**The Rock is known as the house where some of the DOC members live. It also used to be home to a charming cat.
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!
