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Class Class Class

Posted by Anoush Arakelian at 3:46 pm No Responses »

Aug 042012

A spontaneous Thursday night at the lodge. Our delicious home cooked meal was followed by some swing dancing to a live band, "Reckless Breakfast."

I cannot believe how much time I am spending in my classes this summer. But, honestly, it is so much fun. My Theater 65 class now meets almost every day of the week with a break on Thursdays and Sundays. Today I am seeing two shows by the visiting actors, directors, and playwrights of the New York Theater Workshop. This week the shows are titled “This Blessed Pot” and “Paradise Blue.” After the last performance, my class is staying to have a talk back with the actors and writers. It is so exciting that we get to critically discuss pieces of work that could go on to Broadway! Back in the 80′s, “Rent” was workshopped here.

For more information on NYTW at Dartmouth check out this website: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~theater/nytw.html

We are on to Week 3 of Women’s Forum! Last weekend we had an alumni panel during Sophomore Family Weekend that featured mothers of our classmates who graduated from Dartmouth. It was so interesting hearing about their experiences at Dartmouth and post graduation. In the next few weeks we are going to be doing workshops on communication and public speaking and are hopefully having a screening for the Miss Representation, which speaks to the portrayals of women in the media.

My spontaneous adventure of the week was a trip to the Lodge with four of my friends for a night of dinner and dancing! We listened to the tunes of Reckless Breakfast, a Bluegrass band who have performed on the Green during the Farmer’s Market.

Mousse on moose on Moos(ilauke)

Posted by MGarcia at 2:28 pm No Responses »

Jul 272012

Dinner at The Lodge

A major facet of Sophomore Summer is taking advantage of all of the opportunities that Dartmouth has to offer. While special classes are offered only over the summer, certain community service activities take off during these ten weeks, and ample chances to meet classmates exist, certain outdoor experiences are unique to the summertime.

Last Thursday night, five friends and I went to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge for dinner. Every night of the summer student chefs prepare and serve a five-course homemade meal to Dartmouth students and locals. Our meal was inspired by an “Around the World” theme and thus we got to enjoy nann, egg drop soup, a garden salad, onion rings, chicken fajitas and chocolate mousse. Needless to say, we were all stuffed by the end! While the meal itself was truly enjoyable, my favorite part of the night was that I was doing something different than my usual Thursday evening with a group of great friends. After the meal, a local duo played guitar and sang songs that they had written. The one-hour car ride each way flew by as we shared stories of our summers and had a good time being together. The road back to Hanover from the Lodge is known to be home to many animals, including the moose! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), we did not see one on this road trip home.

The majority of Dartmouth students have their first Lodge experience during Dartmouth Outing Club’s freshmen pre-orientation trips. After five days hiking, canoeing, biking, rock climbing or doing community service with two upperclassmen and a group of 6-10 new classmates, students end the trip with dinner and an unforgettable night of fun at the Lodge (I don’t want to give away any of the awesome surprises!)

Week 5…What!?

Posted by Anoush Arakelian at 10:50 am No Responses »

Jul 232012

Wow, it is not week 5…is it? They said it would fly, and it really is. I don’t even know where to begin. I have been taking a class called Theater 65, Drama in Performance, with Prof. Peter Hackett, which has turned into quite the experience. We don’t generally meet during our normal class periods, but rather we meet with performers, groups, directors, and unconventional thespians outside of class. We met Paul Binder, the creator of the Big Apple Circus, workshopped a play with Vox Theater Company, and last weekend at HopFest performed with Paul Marino ’04, creator of PopUp Shakespeare. I got to perform the Romeo and Juliet death scene in the middle of the Green in front a large audience that just had finished watching a live band. I have done a lot of acting and that was by far one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I am also stage managing my first show called Higher Ground. This is a student written piece that was actually written by my good friend who is off campus this summer. It has been a great opportunity to not only see the inner workings of the theater department, but also to work with professors I never would have met!

Women’s Forum has also been going extremely well. We had our first meeting two weeks ago and the response was incredible. We had a good turnout of about 50 girls to listen to three alums talk about their experiences as the pioneering women of coeducation. Not only was it inspirational, but hanging around after and talking with the girls and realizing how much of an impact the program made was incredible. I am so proud of how far we have come as an organization! The next few weeks we are going to be hosting a forum with Mothers of ’14’s for Family Weekend and another two forums on communication and negotiation skills.

As far as adventuring goes, I haven’t had as much time as I would have liked to try new things. Though, I did make a bucket list of fun things that I have been successfully checking off each week. Last week I ran my first 10K and this week I went to a Red Sox game with my best friend. Hopefully I will have time to finish my last few in the coming weeks!

My friends and I ran a 10K to support the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. The fundraiser is called the Prouty and this year it raised over $2 million.

Sophomore Summer Begins

Posted by Anoush Arakelian at 9:10 pm No Responses »

Jul 112012

Bunten Farm comes to the Farmer's market every Wednesday on the Green!

And Sophomore Summer started with a bang! Everyone told me not to get too involved and to spend more time at the River, the Farmer’s Market, with friends…and I intend to do just that (while taking classes of course). I did, however, get the incredible opportunity to be the Co-Director of a new organization on campus, Women’s Forum. Because it is only the second term this organization has been up and running, we have been given free reign to really design our own program. Even though sophomore summer is about having fun and bonding with classmates, I have found it to be the perfect opportunity to fall into leadership positions around campus. All the upperclassmen that I have watched and admired for the past two years are not here! It is now the ’14’s turn to run the show and I am so excited to see the changes we can institute this summer. As for the more “fun stuff,” I recently went off campus to a farm in Orford, NH called Bunten Farm. They bring their fresh produce to the farmers market every Wednesday on the green and they just opened their own restaurant. My friends and I tried it out and it was such a fun adventure up north! We’ve decided to make a little dinner club and try various restaurants in the Upper Valley and beyond. And this weekend I am getting prepared to lead a STRIP (sophomore trips). Essentially it is a re-do of Freshmen DOC Trips and I am SO pumped to meet some new ’14’s and lead my second outdoor adventure, as I lead a freshmen trip this past fall. The summer is going to be such an adventure and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next!

My friends and I decided to drive out to Orford, NH to try their new restaurant, Ariana's.

The French-inspired cuisine was such a nice change from campus dining and it was really cool to eat all locally grown and prepared foods! I will definitely be taking my parents up their for Sophomore Family Weekend.

End of freshman year and the start of summer!

Posted by Sasha Dudding at 10:58 pm No Responses »

Jun 222012

Hello from Washington, D.C.! I know I haven’t written in a while but I’d love to update you on the end of my freshman year and my summer so far. I can’t quite believe I’m done with my first year at Dartmouth – it goes so fast! I loved getting to meet a great group of friends, trying out lots of new activities, and taking some interesting classes. I’d particularly recommend Art History 2, a great intro to the past 5 centuries that will help you understand any art museum in the world, and English 60 (called Raising the Dead) which explores the genre of creative nonfiction and lets you try your hand at it by digging through archives and interviewing your subjects. This summer, I’m participating in one of the Rockefeller Center’s programs called First Year Fellows. It’s an amazing program that brings together 20 freshmen with an interest in public policy and connects them with internships in D.C. as well as training and housing. I’m spending this summer in the office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand- a Dartmouth ’88! I highly recommend the program, and the opportunities it’s given us so far are great!

The End

Posted by Adria Brown at 9:17 pm 2 Responses »

Jun 152012

Isn’t that daunting? The end of freshmen year. No longer full of so much newness and excitement. No longer a time for firsts of everything. Like, the first time you walk around campus realizing you’re actually at Dartmouth? The first time you get disappointed, or feel inadequate at this place. Or the first time you discover you’re at home? I finished about two weeks ago, and as nostalgic as I am about everything, I’m glad I’m moving forward to sophomore year. Freshman year was filled with surprises, realizations about myself, and successes and failures. It was imagining I would love Government and actually loving Anthropology. It was finding that the friends I made were so different than my friends at home and deciding I was completely good with that. It was learning how to order Collis Pasta and not making a fool of myself. But, Sophomore year will give me a study abroad to Italy and leading an alternative spring break to D.C.. It will be trying new things so that I don’t feel comfortable, but always challenged. Getting to know new people, which leads to me the fact that I am so excited to meet you ’16s! You’re pretty awesome, I hear. I know that freshman year seems a bit scary, but thoroughly exciting and I hope to meet you during trips! (Maybe I’ll be leading some of you? ) People will be giving you advice, I don’t know how many people told me roommate horror stories or advice on how to spend my money wisely. I could give you a million pieces of advice, but really freshman year is about the unexpected. Advice will do you good, but the mistakes, the loss of expectations and the addition of new ones will be what makes Dartmouth wonderful for you. My advice then, however cliched it is, is be yourself. Never try and imitate another’s Dartmouth experience because it seems cooler than your own. Make sure your decisions are making you happy, and you’re set.

Wow. I actually did end up giving advice. Dang it.

Dimensions of Dartmouth has begun!

Posted by DartmouthDirect at 10:23 am No Responses »

Apr 192012

Dimensions of Dartmouth has officially begun! We’re so excited to meet future ’16s and welcome them to Dartmouth!

If you can’t make it, make sure to join us tonight for our live broadcast of the Class of 2016: Official Introduction starting at 8:30 PM Eastern Time.

Watch live online. No camera required. Parents & family welcome.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dartmouthdirect/dartmouth-direct-live

Guest Welcome: Emily Mason-Osann ’11

Posted by DartmouthDirect at 11:43 pm No Responses »

Apr 182012

Emily Mason-Osann ’11 is the director of the Dartmouth Outing Club’s First-Year Trips Program.

Hi Class of 2016!!!!

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome! First of all, congratulations on making it through the stress (or not) of college applications and decisions, and welcome to Dartmouth!

I’m Emily, although I usually go by Emo, and I’m the Director of DOC First-Year Trips for 2012. I’m a member of the class of 2011, and just finished my B.E. degree from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering where I studied biochemical engineering. I enjoy studying proteins, reading in my hammock, and – now – directing DOC Trips. I’m incredibly excited about all of you coming to Dartmouth in a few months, and I hope you’re excited to go on a DOC Trip when you arrive!

DOC First-Year Trips started 77 years ago when a few upperclassmen invited some first year students to go on a hike before classes started. Since then the program has grown and improved dramatically. The program is run by students, including a program directorate, ~55 support crew members, ~300 trip leaders, and countless other student volunteers. The primary goal of the program is to welcome the entire class of 2016!

We offer many levels of trips from beginner to advanced, and many different types of trips from whitewater kayaking to yoga to hiking. We hope we have something that will interest each one of you. Each trip has two upperclassmen leaders, and four to ten new Dartmouth students. The trips consists of one afternoon and night in Hanover getting to know your group, two nights out exploring New Hampshire, and then one afternoon and night playing and eating at the beautiful Moosilauke Ravine Lodge (which Dartmouth College owns and operates in Warren, NH). DOC Trips is a great way to have a lot of fun, meet some of your peers, and explore that beautiful area that Dartmouth is lucky enough to reside in.

My freshman year I went on canoeing a canoeing trip with eight other ‘11s, and last year I led a hiking trip across Franconia Ridge with six ‘15s. I really want to go on our Nature Exploration trip that we offer because I wish I knew more about my surroundings when I’m in the wilderness. And while you will soon receive paperwork regarding registration for DOC Trips, just know that whatever trip you decide to go on – it can be a really fun and exciting experience!

Trips is a wonderful (in my opinion) and unique Dartmouth tradition, that can introduce you to the college, welcome you to the Dartmouth community, provide you with upperclassmen to help you when you need it and a whole lot more. Everyone’s experience with Trips is different, but we try our very hardest to welcome YOU, whoever you are, wherever you came from, whoever you want to be, to your new home at Dartmouth.

In the upcoming weeks and months (as you count down the days until you arrive), explore our DOC Trips blog, check us out on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and if you ever have any questions – feel free to contact us! Our team of volunteers is getting prepped for your arrival now and throughout the summer, so we want you to have the best experience possible this fall!

I’m excited for Trips and for all of you to be here!

See you soon,

Emily (Emo) Mason-Osann ‘11

Guest Welcome: Professor Bruce Sacerdote

Posted by DartmouthDirect at 1:47 pm No Responses »

Mar 312012

Dear Class of 2016:

Congratulations to all of you and welcome! I’m the vice chair of the economics department and looking forward to seeing you here for Dimensions weekend and First Year Orientation. I spent today teaching my seminar on finance and I have a couple of ideas for you to ponder. Look at the enclosed graph. The green line is the yield on the Treasury Inflation Protected Security. The TIPS. This is the yield on the 5 year TIPS. The TIPS pays this rate PLUS the future change in the price level. Thus as an investor you get the real yield on the TIPS (the green line) plus inflation.

What is that enormous spike during the financial crisis? Apparently the market expected deflation (ie inflation would be negative) so in order to hold the TIPS investors demanded 4% figuring that -2% “inflation” would be added to their return. Would it make any sense to expect deflation in the US economy? Couldn’t the Federal Reserve just print more money to cause inflation if it needed to? You have probably heard the terms QE and QE2 meaning quantitative easing. QE and QE2 have a lot to do with this ability to create inflation. Under quantitative easing the Fed has been creating money and buying bonds with it. What does that accomplish? Creating (printing) more money and injecting it into the market keeps interest rates down and tends to increase the price level. This is exactly what the Fed wants to do in this weak economy.

Stranger still, why is the green line below zero now? Its at minus 1%. Why are investors willing to lock in a **negative** real yield on a five year Treasury investment? If banks are paying zero percent, and there is 2 percent inflation, banks are paying -2% in real terms and the TIPS is paying -1% in real terms. Is that the best investors can do and would they be better off putting their money in the stock market and trying to earn a positive real return?

The financial markets are a fascinating part of the economy and our aim is to help you understand these phenomena at a deep level. Each of my students is working on their own research project related to some aspect of asset prices or firm or investor behavior. I hope and suspect that many of you will be economics majors and it will be interesting to see how the world evolves during your time here

Yours truly,

Prof Bruce Sacerdote ’90

Super Sixteens!

Posted by Faizan Kanji at 9:32 pm 1 Response »

Mar 292012

Hey guys! First of all CONGRATULATIONS on getting into Dartmouth. Here’s a link to my post to the early decision sixteens. Much of this applies to all of you as well.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dartmouthdirect/2011/12/to-the-sixteens/

Over the next few weeks you guys will be making one of the most important decisions of your life. Many of you might have excellent offers from other colleges as well and are closely looking at every aspect of every college to make sure you make the right decision. I was in the same position exactly a year ago. Today, while writing this post, I am filled with immense happiness and pride for choosing Dartmouth which ended up being the perfect choice for me. Although it’s probably true that Dartmouth may not be for everybody, but trust me, Dartmouth’s versatility and welcoming nature ensures that most people will have the best time of their life at this institution!

So the major question is why should you choose Dartmouth? You’ll probably find thousands of answers to that question. I’ll just add some of my own experiences to that list.

One major thing you’ll always hear about Dartmouth is the focus on undergraduate studies. Trust me that is NO joke! All classes are taught by professors. They also have additional office hours when you can ask them for help or just have a nice chat with them. To see world class professors working extremely hard for you is truly inspirational and you can find that at Dartmouth! This is one of the biggest and most important reasons i’m completely in love with Dartmouth!

Next is the versatility. This is something I’ve talked about in my previous posts. Dartmouth has something for everybody. You meet loads of different kinds of people and all of them have made their place in this wonderful institute. For example, coming from Pakistan my favorite sport has always been Cricket. Coming to the US, I assumed that I probably will not get to play cricket during my time here. However I was in for an amazing surprise when I found out that Dartmouth actually had a cricket club. I get to play cricket every single week here. Many people have had similar experiences with their passions. Sometimes when there actually isn’t an official organization for you, then you can easily create one. Best thing is that you will almost always get both funding from Dartmouth as well as support from peers, administration as well as professors. It’s magnificent!

I’m sure that many of you will already have heard of the amazing study abroad opportunities, the flexible schedule, amazing internships, world class resources, and the millions of other things Dartmouth has to offer. All of these together make Dartmouth a really magical institute. However something that struck me the most was the amount of love students have for this college. People are actually passionate about making it a better place and almost everyone wholeheartedly believes in the greatness of this institution. I’ve also talked about a magical feeling associated with being here in some of my previous posts. The best thing about this feeling is that it keeps increasing over time. As I said, each week brings something new, presents a new challenge, and gives us the opportunity to develop physically, mentally and emotionally.

Overall, I’d just like to say that you guys are a really lucky bunch. Think about your college choices carefully, but speaking from experience I HIGHLY recommend Dartmouth! I am super excited to see you all on campus and I can’t wait to see all of you soon! Make the most of your last few pre-college months!
Cheers!

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