Olá! I'm Luana from Brasília, the capital of Brazil. I hope to be an environmental engineering major, but, surprisingly, my favorite class right now is Humanities 1. You can find me studying in the Tower Room or at AQ, our Catholic Student Center. One year ago I was looking through this blog hoping to get to know Dartmouth. Now, I get to tell you why I love this place so much while I learn what it means to be a Dartmouth student. Consider this an invitation to accompany me.
As a bookworm who loved dissecting and analyzing novels or philosophical works, a writing class focused on classical literature with weekly discussions was the right fit for me. Between reading Sophocles, Nietzsche, and Rawls, I had the opportunity to reassess my approach to reading, deepen my interpretations, and improve my public speaking skills while broadening my recognition of the significance of critical thinking.
My birthday is so special to me! It is a day I get to celebrate my life with the people I love and cherish the most. So, one of my biggest worries coming to college was: on my birthday—merely one month after I arrived at Dartmouth—would I already have close friends to celebrate with? The answer was yes!
By the first couple of weeks, I had met a wonderful, tight-knit community and so many friendships arose from it. I got to celebrate my birthday with a surprise picnic, where my friends baked and decorated cupcakes and made special desserts from my home country like Bridageiro (it was delicious!). Not only that, but they also planned a surprise dinner at one of the restaurants in town. They made me feel so special!
The cupcakes and Brigadeiro my friends made for my birthday. They even decorated it in Portuguese!
I was so grateful to be surrounded by such incredible people so fast. That is what the Dartmouth community is like and making friends here is one of the easiest things to do. From orientation week to your classes, finding community is always within your grasp. Here is how I met my amazing Dartmouth family and where you might also find yours!
Most people have roommates, which sometimes means that your room will come with a built-in best friend. In my case, I have a single this year, so no built-in best friend. But, as fate would have it, I found one across the hall on day 1. We crossed paths with each other on our way to the bathroom, said "Hi", and have been inseparable since. It is that easy.
You might also find yourself making friends in your housing community. At Dartmouth, we separate clusters of buildings within these communities where you partake in events together. From going to the Welcome Ceremony to sharing pizzas before the Bonfire, you can easily make great memories and create so many friendships throughout these events.
My friends and I at our Bonfire!
Orientation Week Events
During international orientation, we were randomly seated at separate tables during most events. I made such wonderful friendships because of the conversations I partook in throughout these random groups. It was so much fun getting to know students from such diverse backgrounds and most of them are still a huge part of my life.
Between talks and ice-breakers, you will meet incredible people during orientation week. I know it can seem a little daunting to start conversations with those you don't know but trust me, everyone is in the same boat as you: we are all looking to connect and hope to make friendships.
It is a wonderful time to get a little bit out of your shell and just say "Hi". I swear, wonderful connections are born from that one simple act.
Some of the friends I met during Orientation Week!
Classes
At Dartmouth, you can also make strong friendships in class. Sometimes it will be simply because you ended up sitting together and started chatting. Maybe you will get to know each other because you did a group project or decided to study together for an upcoming exam. There are so many ways in which you can connect with the Dartmouth community through your classes, especially due to the small number of students in each class.
This fall term, my Humanities 001 class, which only has 16 students in the discussion group, became so tight-knit that by the end of the term we created a group chat to keep in touch—a common occurrence at Dartmouth.
There is so much more to mention! Clubs and extracurricular activities, religious communities, at the library… The opportunities to make friendships are truly endless.
Coming to a new place is frightening, but finding the right people is what will make it feel like home. At Dartmouth, that is an easy thing to do!
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
