Hi guys! I'm Chidera and I'm a '25 from Lagos, Nigeria. I've lived in a big city for nearly half of my life, so it's great to experience the scenic outdoor spaces surrounding Dartmouth. Outside of the classroom, I conduct research with the economics department, I'm a peer tutor for the Academic Skills Center and I'm also involved with the Dartmouth Energy Alliance.
Taking this class was a random and unexpected decision that I am so happy I made. This class was about the intersection between human and primate evolution and our social behaviors. It really opened my eyes to how unique and beautifully diverse different societies are, and how this uniqueness influences our biology in interesting ways.
Taught by Professor Doyle, this has been my favorite class at Dartmouth so far. It was a calculus integrated with economic applications of the concepts we learned. It was the first time this class was offered at Dartmouth, and Professor Doyle made sure we all had a thorough understanding of the material. The fact that we were also able to see the real-world applications of the calculus concepts also made the class uniquely interesting.
I took this class to fulfill Dartmouth's first-year seminar requirement. In selecting a first-year seminar class, I sought out a department that I would not have taken a class in otherwise. It was an incredibly fulfilling experience and I learnt so much about Parisian Impressionist painters in the late 19th century like Monet, Manet, Degas, Morisot and Renoir. It also taught me about the political, social and economic conditions that typically inspire pivotal art movements.
SummerWashington D.C.
This summer, I interned at the International Finance Corporation in DC, through the Rockefeller Center's First-Year Fellows program which gives first-year students the opportunity to engage in public policy early in their Dartmouth careers. I lived with about twenty other members of Dartmouth's Class of 2025 and got to experience life in a vibrant city while gaining professional work experience.
I spent this term in Accra, Ghana for the African and African American Studies department's Foreign Study Program (FSP). I'm so glad I was able to take advantage of one of Dartmouth's study-abroad programs. During this FSP, I got to explore a new country and city while taking classes taught by the amazing professors at the University of Ghana.
After being away from campus for six months, I decided to start working towards fulfilling my distributive requirements. To fulfill my ART distrib, I took a Russian film class with a friend. It was an amazing experience and a testament to the ways a liberal arts education encourages you to approach each class through an interdisciplinary lens. For my final essay in this class, I explored the ways that government and political culture affect the nature of the film industry in different countries.
This class is one of the prerequisites for the international economics track's culminating experience. Dartmouth's economics major allows you to focus on a specific field that you're interested in, while also having the opportunity to take a couple of classes in other fields. Before taking this class, I had always been interested in international economics and this class definitely cemented my interests in the field.
I used my sophomore summer off term to conduct research with the economics department through the Dartmouth Economics Research Scholars and with the funding of the James O. Freedman Presidential Scholarship. My research project, which was mentored and advised by a faculty member, focused on the effects of European Union climate policy on the economy of my home country, Nigeria. It gave me the opportunity to apply and better understand several concepts I learnt in economics classes at Dartmouth.
This was the most enjoyable and impactful class I have ever taken at Dartmouth! Each assigned reading and class discussion was more enthralling and thought-provoking than the last. This class taught me how to think outside the box, write academic articles in the field of the humanities and how to intellectualise and synthesise my own lived experiences in a way that contributes meaningfully to existing literature in African Studies. Lastly, it taught me to think critically about pressing social issues within the African continent.
The Presidential Scholars Program is a program run by Dartmouth's Undergraduate Research and Advising office (UGAR) that was established in 1988 to provide opportunities for students to experience research first-hand by working with Dartmouth faculty in part-time research assistantships.
Students typically apply to the Presidential Scholars program towards the end of their sophomore year after finding a faculty mentor who is willing to work with them on a project. Projects may be a mostly individual effort from the student with the guidance and advice of the faculty member, or may include the student assisting the faculty member on an already existing project that they are working on.
Finding a faculty mentor is also a lot easier than one would imagine! Many Dartmouth professors enjoy working with undergraduates; UGAR maintains an online database in which professors who are interested in engaging with students in research can post their projects on. I found my faculty mentor through the Dartmouth Economic Research Scholars program which provides additional mentoring and support to students interested in economics research.
One thing about the Presidential Scholars program I have enjoyed is its accessibility and flexibility. A lot of part-time work opportunities through research or internships available to undergraduates students are sometimes unpaid. This makes these opportunities inaccessible to students who can not financially afford to sacrifice their time on unpaid internships and research assistantships.
The Presidential Scholars program however provides a stipend of $1,200 per term to all participants. With that being said, the program may also grant a course credit in place of a stipend. This can be helpful and relevant when the research project is especially related to a niche you may be exploring within your major. It can also come in handy if you need an extra credit to complete a major, minor or degree requirement. Lastly, although it is a two-term program that has to be completed within your junior year, UGAR is quite flexible with this requirement; I originally planned to do the Presidential Scholars program during sophomore summer and junior winter and changed the second term to junior spring at the last minute.
To complete my Presidential Scholars program this term, I am working on an informational brief regarding a recent climate change mitigation policy initiated by the European Union and delving into the specifics guidelines and timeline of this policy. Although I only started working on it a few days ago, it is already fascinating how collaborative research efforts from several people on different levels come together on a single project that has real-world implications.
In the Winter term of 2024, I composed and performed an hour-long, avant-garde concert as the culmination of the grant award. Here is more on my experiences with research as a musician.
