Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog, also known as my digital diary. I'm majoring in Asian Studies modified with Business, a new program here at Dartmouth, so feel free to ask me anything related to that. Beyond the classroom, I love the Dartmouth sunsets, the traditions, the classes, the merch, and the people, of course. Come along with me as I explore the ins and outs of life in the woods.
A course that definitely surprised me, I did not know what to expect and had very little philosophical knowledge before taking this course. It was a mixture of current and past readings, with the final project to make a group video, testing my technological ability. Professor Bumpus was amazing, and I got to know her more when I took her to breakfast at Pine through the Take Your Professor to Lunch Program.
I was recommended to take a history course, specifically a history course with Professor Lu, and it has not disappointed! This course is cross listed with Asian Studies, my major, but it has made me consider a history minor... We start every class off with a song relating to the topic of that class, and then we move on to discussion based activities.
So far, the Dartmouth classes I have taken have been all based around discussion and essay writing. As an Asian Studies and Government major, I expected that the rest of my time at Dartmouth would follow a similar pattern, but in fact a pre-requisite for the Government major is a Political Analysis class. This class involves coding, analyzing survey samples, and other quantitative methods. The professor is amazing—a friend and I got to know him better by taking him out to breakfast at Pine through the 'Take Your Professor to Lunch' program. The final group project involves making projections for the 2024 elections using past data. Although, obviously, this election already happened, some of our predictions were more accurate than the polls! It is super interesting to take a class that I can see the themes in real world news outlets.
My favorite class this term had to be Developing Vietnam, which is a ten-week course taken in Hanover, in preparation for three weeks in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during the winter break. The goal of this class was to plan and carry out a research project pertaining to development in Vietnam. During our time at Dartmouth, we collaborated with Fulbright University Vietnam students to come up with a shared research topic, research brief, and agenda. The interdisciplinary nature of this class meant that we had the opportunity to explore Vietnam through different angles/themes spanning religion, history, political economy, and environmental governance.
This term, my roommate and I are living in an off-campus housing development, Summit on Juniper. We decided not to go for the more traditional route of getting put into the campus-wide housing lottery, instead opting to go for the easy option, and secure our housing. This was still done through the Undergraduate Housing Office, as the housing complex is owned by Dartmouth. Summit on Juniper consists of four buildings, with two of them reserved for Dartmouth undergraduates.
Early morning views from my room
Coming to Dartmouth, I was convinced that I would want to live in the dorms for all four years, in order to maximize my college experience and have the opportunity to fully buy into the campus community. Although I had a great time in my first-year housing situation, I never quite had my own space. My first choice of housing was a triple, which I got. The way we decided to arrange our room was having all our beds in one room, with the second room reserved for our desks and wardrobes. I loved it, but I was looking forward to having my own space to live in.
And at Summit, I definitely get that. My flatmate, Ashley, and I share a two-bedroom apartment, with each of us having an en suite bathroom. We share a living space, as well as a fully equipped kitchen, with everything one would need (including a garbage disposal, which, when I first flipped the seemingly innocuous light switch that controlled it, made a very loud, grinding noise. I was convinced that I had already broken something, but little did I know that it in fact was our garbage disposal. We don't have those in England!). In addition to the amenities in our apartment, we also have access to the Summit clubhouse. Here, there are vending machines, Fresh Zones, to satisfy any craving we have. We also have a mailroom, that, unlike the on-campus mailroom, is open 24/7. A worry that I had about moving to Summit was the lack of access to gym facilities. Fortunately, the clubhouse also has a gym. There is also a large social space, complete with a pool and a table tennis table. However, out of all these facilities, my favorite aspect of the clubhouse has to be the popcorn maker.
If we don't want to leave the building to access study spots or a gym, our building has dedicated spaces for each. On the first, third, and fourth floor are study rooms, with fancy names such as 'Cyber Café' and 'The Thought Lab.' I have had many late night study sessions in these. The second floor has a gym room, complete with weights, a rowing machine, an assault bike, as well as a gym mirror, a workout coach integrated into what looks like a mirror.
Although we have access to a kitchen, we rarely cook our own meals since we are still able to be on a meal plan. In this way, we are still very much connected to the campus community, having most of our meals in Foco. If we want to eat in our apartment, the Fresh Zones have readymade meals that are easy enough to pop into the microwave. They also have every flavor ever of Ben & Jerry's.
Campus is very accessible from Summit. Dartmouth operates a free of charge Campus Connector that drops me off right at the library, right in time for my 8:50AM class. Buses run continuously from 7AM to 2:45AM. If that's not enough, from 5AM the bus service runs a request only route, dropping you off at the exact place you require. This was very useful when I wanted to meet my friends on campus for an early sunrise hike.
All in all, living at Summit has been a lovely experience. Having our own apartment feels very grown up. Next term, due to the incredible flexibility of the Undergraduate Housing Office, we will be moving back on campus.
This winter, I'm studying abroad in Toulouse, immersing myself in French language, literature, art, and culture through place-based classes, city explorations, and firsthand experiences across southern France.
From surfing in Puerto Rico to backpacking in Joshua Tree to Norway: Break trips are a unique Dartmouth experience, giving students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the outdoors
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Gabe Brigham '26, a psychology and sociology double major, showed me around his dorm room, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
