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!
This class served as a great introduction to the Quantitative Social Science department. My favorite part of class was working with real-world data in our problem sets each week. I also adored my professor, Elsa Voytas. It was her first term as a professor here, and she was constantly eager to answer any questions you might have. I'm really looking forward to taking more QSS classes in the future!
I loved this class and especially my professor, Michele Tine. My favorite part of the course was watching the "Up!" documentary series as a class. The episodes began with a cohort of children at age 7, and has continued to follow them throughout their adulthood. We got to analyze the children's decisions and lifestyles in the context of what we were learning about, culminating with a paper highlighting one of the cohort members.
Paris and Literature and Film was the last part of my first-year writing experience. Professor Kane did a great job of bringing a variety of sources into our classroom discussions (books, movies, articles, etc.) which made the course very engaging. Plus, it was so much fun to learn about France before visiting in 25W!
It's hard to put into words how special senior week was. I probably wouldn't have stayed around for senior week if it wasn't for my sister's graduation (yay, Bea!). In fact, most of my friends were back home enjoying the beginning of their summers. But for me (and a couple of my friends who stayed around to work), a new Dartmouth experience was just beginning. And, in turn, my feelings about the College shifted, too.
Senior week felt a lot like orientation week, if you can believe it. Dartmouth hosted endless ways for '24s to celebrate each other. Orientation week kicked off with a speech by Lee Coffin, the Dean of Admissions. He talked about all of our classes accomplishments during high school (did you know that a '27 was a firefighter? I didn't!). Similarly, the valedictory address by Brian Zheng '24 mentioned all of the triumphs of the outgoing class. While housing communities had hosted events for incoming first-years in the fall, senior week featured an "around the world" cocktail hour so that '24s could get to know peers who were headed to work in the same region. Noticing the parallels between the two weeks made me unexpectedly emotional. It feels like I just started at this school, but senior week made me realize just how quickly my time will come to a close.
I know that sentiment might come across as overly dramatic, but I think it is a crucial idea to consider as you embark on your college search. Find a school that makes you mourn the loss of it before you even begin. Find a school where you can't imagine life without it. When I was exploring colleges, I realized that school was Dartmouth for me. But you—and only you—can determine what institution feels right for you.
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!
