Dartmouth Direct

Hello Fall Quarter

Posted by Delos Chang at 9:19 am No Responses »

Sep 112012

Every Fall at Dartmouth, I’m reminded just how old I am. As I walk around the beautiful Green, I hear the classic flair, loud music blasting and seemingly clueless ’16s wandering around! And that’s when it hits me – I’m a junior! In a way, Fall symbolizes a period of renewal. It’s an exciting time to be sure — everybody coming back to campus after a lengthy break (except for the sophomores over summer!) and life at the Big Green continues.

Not for me, though. For me, Fall 2012 is something new, something exciting. With three other guys and a vision, I am finally taking the Fall off to launch a start-up with $16,500 in capital raised from the Dartmouth Entrepreneurship Competition (if you’re curious, see here http://thedartmouth.com/2012/04/06/news/des). With an early prototype engineered and our value hypotheses validated, we’re currently pursuing different techniques to tighten the validated learning feedback loop between customers and our start-up. Ultimately, whether the start-up succeeds or fails by conventional metrics of valuation is personally irrelevant. In my mind, success stems from personal growth and evolution. What really finalized this decision to pursue the start-up path was the realization that as someone with a vision and capital, I really had nothing to lose and everything to gain!

So Fall still, to me, is a renewal in some senses.

Astronomy, Religion, Statistics OH MY!

Posted by MGarcia at 12:47 pm No Responses »

Aug 222012

Due to Dartmouth’s aspiration for a liberal arts education, the college requires all students to complete a set of distributive requirements before graduation. These requirements do not hinder students from taking the courses they want or force students to take a specific class they may not be interested in, but instead, the “distribs” (as students call them) allow students to branch out and encourage them to reach out of their comfort zone. The list of requirements that Dartmouth currently has is as follows: one Art; one Literature; one Systems of Thought, Meaning and Value; one International or comparative study; two Social analysis; one Quantitative or deductive science; two Natural or Physical sciences; and one Technology or applies science. In addition, students must take one laboratory class. The other side of the requirements is in terms of World Culture and requires one course in each of the following: Western culture, Non-western culture, and Culture and Identity. While this may seem like so many classes, many classes can fulfill both a subject and a culture distribution and many requirements can be fulfilled in surprising ways. For example, a music class can fulfill your technology requirement and nobody has to know how to draw or paint to get credit for the art distribution. Some of my favorite classes so far at Dartmouth have been classes I have selected to use to fulfill a distribution or just based on interest. Examples include Astronomy, Religion, Statistics, Multiracial Youth Development, Perception, Argentine Literature and more! As a Psychology major, the majority of my classes will end up in that department, but thanks to the distributive requirements I have been fortunate to get a taste of many other areas of study and learn bits and pieces of a variety of subjects.

Never alone, but always together.

Posted by Justin Lee at 4:39 pm No Responses »

Aug 192012

So how did you like Dartmouth?

I think I’ve encountered this question about twenty times during my summer break so far. From my dad asking me as soon as my arrival at LAX to my high school friends who are curious to know about the life in the East Coast, this is an inevitable question that all freshmen who’ve completed their first year will confront at some point or another. Of course, for me, I always took the easy way out with the usual automatic response, “It’s great; I like it a lot” and move on.

While I was at Dartmouth, I never had to think about how my “Dartmouth experience” was. But now that I am back home, where I am constantly flooded with inquiry after inquiry about my life in Hanover, I decided to organize my most memorable experiences from freshmen year.

Interestingly, these times are those not spent on studying, and this is something I am sure every other student can attest to. It was getting sunburned during spring term while being outside all day because the weather was so nice, receiving my first ‘A’ in a class, talking about life and politics with an upperclassmen for four straight hours, throwing frisbees on the Green, mutually suffering in the library with my friends during finals, eating out in Hanover, getting Nutella milkshakes from Boloco or Hazelnut gelato from Morano after every time I ate out in Hanover, and so on.

From this, I realized one thing: none of these memories were made alone. Your Dartmouth experience, as much as it is “your” experience, is only made possible through the collective actions of the peers around you. Based on my encounters with various alums during my freshman year and during this summer break, the one thing you guys are definitely going to take with, years after you graduate from this beautiful school, is the friends and people you meet here. You never know, that tripee you thought was annoying and creepy might just be in your club sports team, or even worse, live right next to you.

So what I’m saying is… when you see people giving that clichéd response to questions like “What did you enjoy most about Dartmouth” as being “The people I met here,” there is a good reason why that question receives a near-unanimous answer. DOC Trips are just a few days away, and I know many of you guys are really excited for it. I hope you guys enjoy yourself and have a great time. You guys are now part of Dartmouth, try make the best of it.

Summer almost Over?

Posted by Delos Chang at 5:07 pm No Responses »

Aug 162012

I promise I’ll keep this one short and sweet.

With the summer quarter almost over and finals beyond the horizon, the pace of Dartmouth life has been swift with great impact. Looking back, it surprises me just how much the classes here have engaged and taught me how to look at life from another perspective. Take astronomy: we learned everything from basic physics to supernovae to the big questions like: How big is the universe and how did life begin?

These big questions always throw me in for a loop. I take a step back and remember how amazing life is and how small the human race’s timeline is relative to the astronomical age of the universe. It seems to me that even if we had an iota of an impact on the universe, compared to the vast expanses of the galaxy and beyond, we still remain infinitesimally small. These humbling thoughts are both exciting and frightening to me at the same time. They further propel my belief that given the grand scheme of the universe, we should aim to make a dent on the universe in our lives.

Beyond this philosophizing about the universe, it’s interesting to witness just how much what you study influences your ideas and thought patterns. When I took accounting last winter quarter, I thought in a very rigorous, systematic way, always analyzing the smallest details and making sure each step of it was correct. When I took computer science, I sought to implement the optimized teachings and algorithms into my own life. And as an econ major, I realize that knowledge has increasing returns to scale.

Exploring the outdoors…

Posted by Anoush Arakelian at 11:01 am No Responses »

Aug 162012

One of the things that I am so happy about this summer, is the amount of time I have spent outdoors. Many of my other terms at Dartmouth have been too busy or too cold to spend as much time exploring as I had hoped. This term, I have done a fair bit of hiking and adventuring in the Upper Valley and New Hampshire!

Last week, my Theater 65 class met in Lyme, NH to have a BBQ with all of the actors and directors from our program.

BBQ in Lyme, NH with the New York Theater Workshop

It was not only held at the one of the most serene locations I have ever seen, but it was an incredible experience to be able to hang out with professors, actors, and directors alike. When else will you be able to chat about your family and future plans over s’mores with a professional actor? Sometimes a nice break from campus is needed to just forget about school work for a few minutes and enjoy the fact that we are living in such a beautiful place!

The view from our dinner!

A few mornings ago, my friend Kelly and I decided to be spontaneous and watch the sun rise! We had heard about a good spot where a lot of people go from Dartmouth called the Gile Fire tower. It is basically a huge fire tower that you can climb to the top of and have a view over the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont. After waking up at 4:50 AM and trekking about 20 minutes in the woods, we reached the fire tower. By 5:30 AM we were watching the sun rise over the horizon and all of the surrounding mountains…there may have been some singing of Lion King as well. The early wake up was so worth it for the view we got. And, when we got down, it still wasn’t even close to time for our classes or our morning team lift. So, we went to Four Aces diner in Lebanon to enjoy the “Early Bird Special.” I don’t think I will ever be up early enough to buy that again!

The sun rising from the top of the Gile Fire Tower.

Empanada Reunion

Posted by MGarcia at 1:48 pm No Responses »

Aug 092012

This past spring I spent ten weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the Spanish Department Foreign Study Program (FSP) with fifteen other Dartmouth students. The experience was absolutely amazing! While there, we took three classes at an Argentine university (UADE), lived with host families, and experienced culture events every week ranging from tango class to riding horses in the countryside to learning about Borges. One of my favorite parts of the program was a week long vacation in the middle to travel wherever we wanted in the gorgeous country. I was lucky enough to see Iguazu Falls (waterfalls that are more than three times the size of Niagara!), the glaciers down in the southern Patagonia region, and even to travel to “the end of the world” to the southern most city of Ushuaia.

While in Argentina, we tasted many new foods and all fell in love with empanadas. If you haven’t ever had an empanada, I highly recommend it! Imagine a small-scale calzone filled with ham, cheese, beef, chicken or vegetables but with a flakier crust. This past week, my group got back together for a reunion and cooking lesson with the professor that traveled with us in the spring. While we are all willing to admit our empanadas were not quite as delicious as what we remembered, it was such a nice evening to catch up with friends, freshen up our Spanish speaking skills (as to not let it get too rusty) and learn to make something that will always remind us of our time in Argentina.

I am a huge supporter of studying abroad in college and think it really helped me to mature and become more independent. I learned so much about myself while abroad and have a slightly better appreciation for other cultures after immersing myself for ten weeks. Dartmouth makes it so easy to study abroad and my own experience and those of friends all have been fabulous.

A Long Time Coming: Here, there, and everywhere.

Posted by Stephanie Abbott-Grobicki at 4:04 pm No Responses »

Aug 082012

Wembley Stadium!

SO I have been really bad at writing blogs for this page – for which I apologise! It turns out that being away from Dartmouth is just as busy as being at Dartmouth. Although it was sad leaving my freshman floor, it was really nice to go home, unwind, and take in everything that has happened this year. It has been a crazy collage of ups and downs (mostly ups!), excitement and discovery, meeting friends and taking interesting classes – I’ve loved every minute of it.

Your freshman summer is a little bit of a free for all. There are programs (like First Year Fellows) or FSPs (I know theatre and film are both during the summer) that some people do.

For me, I wanted to relax at home – no homework, or midterms, or finals for 3 months! But, I did think it might be useful just to get a short internship and start getting some experience in the field I am interested in going into. I approached my acting professor and asked him for advice and a recommendation. I also looked for Dartmouth alumni that could help me. Career Services is really awesome in that respect.

I am now working in London for four weeks for a Casting Director. I am really interested in Theatre – so discovering the theatre industry in London has been amazing. It’s such a cool opportunity to meet people in the business and also see how it all works. I also get to go see a lot of shows and meet some actors which has been great! My professors were so helpful in getting me this internship and although I’ve enjoyed relaxing this summer, it was a nice change. I’ve also had the added bonus of seeing some Olympics too!

Team GB for the win!

Dartmouth 12F is going to rock and I will hopefully be blogging more when I get back!

Still Exploring

Posted by Vanessa Trinh at 12:06 am No Responses »

Aug 072012

So I’m sitting here writing this blog post for you all from the Jones Media Center, a place I was not really acquainted with until this term. Not only is it my new super secret study nook, it has unbelievable resources and technology to help you with every class. The reason I found myself in here was because the other day I was doing research for my Economics Independent Study and needed to pull up large excel sheets at the same time as Stata for data sets– Jones could do it all. Also, it is conveniently located next to the Dartmouth Map Room, another new treasure of mine. Did you know they sometimes give away FREE MAPS? I think that’s super cool. I recently acquired some for my room decorations. Today, I’m in Jones writing a paper in response to a lecture by Todd Stern ’73, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, as part of my Leading Voices Government class. Leading Voices has given me the

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern ’73 at the Hop. Photo Courtesy the Dartmouth Flickr Photostream.

exclusive opportunity to meet speakers from all part of foreign policy and ask them questions about their careers, and about pressing matters like Global Health, Nuclear Profliferation, Womens’ Rights and now Climate Change. It’s been a unique experience that reminds me a lot of the Dickey Center’s Global Issues Scholars program that I was a part of during my Freshman Year.

Just when I though I was really knee-deep into my Dartmouth experience, I realize I’m still finding new things like it’s Freshman Fall.

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.

The Best of Both Worlds

Posted by MGarcia at 4:28 pm No Responses »

Aug 022012

Wednesday night’s dinner was my favorite meal in a long time for two main reasons. First, I got to enjoy pesto, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella- the perfect summer combination! But more importantly, the true appeal of Wednesday’s dinner was Professor Michele Tine, a member of the Education Department at Dartmouth, who joined nine of my sorority sisters and me for a “Delta Dinner.” We sat around the table talking for nearly two hours with constant conversation about everyday Dartmouth life topics and eventually engaging Professor Tine’s expertise about underprivileged students and ways to enhance their education. Professor Tine has worked in a school herself and now is a professor and does research of her own. We chatted about the merits of educational topics ranging from teacher professionalism and respect, Teach for America, the unequal scale of opportunities and the invisible challenges teachers face in certain types of schools. As an education minor and teacher hopeful myself, the dinner was an incredible opportunity to hear first-hand from an intelligent woman with a life of experiences to share with us. This fall I will be teaching in a 1^st grade classroom and, after the conversation over dinner on Wednesday, I am itching to start!

Photo from Dartmouth Education Department website

Education Professor Michele Tine

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