Tuesday, March 29, 2011

11S

...and spring term is here! I honestly can't believe I'm only a term away from finishing my first year at Dartmouth. It's unreal. Winter term was practically over before it started, and I spent my spring break at home with my dog, watching movies and sleeping until 3 pm every day. Unfortunately, I'm already tired of waking up early... I'm trying to avoid becoming the nocturnal caffeine monster I was at the end of winter term, but let's just see how that pans out come finals.

Thankfully, my leg has FINALLY healed, so I can walk around campus with two shoes for the first time since starting at Dartmouth. I swear people don't recognize me without my crutches and boot, and I think my a cappella group will always refer to me as Boot. But I'm so relieved to finally be able to enjoy Dartmouth's campus without worrying about my leg. I think I'll even get my first P.E. credit this term? Only problem is that after not walking on my leg for... 8 months, all the muscle is literally gone. My leg is now a piece of bone and skin, and it's unbelievably sore every night. Hopefully physical therapy will bring me back to normal?

Finally, an update on the new dining hall. It's really nice, but SOOOO crowded, especially during the dinner-time rush around 7 pm. Hopefully the crowds will die down soon? It's actually difficult to find a seat sometimes, but once all the seating areas are open again in the fall, I think everything will be back to normal.

ALSO, good luck to everybody who hears from Dartmouth today at 5 pm! I'm crossing my fingers for all of you.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Classes

I realize I haven't even addressed the point of coming to college: the classes!

Fall term I took:

  • Math 23 - Differential Equations 
  • Writing 5
  • Biology 11
Of the three, my favorite by far was Writing 5. The class is a introductory writing class required of most Dartmouth freshman. Each different section of the class focuses on a different topic, but the overall primary purpose of the course is improving student writing. Mine was on medical ethics, and I only decided to take it on a whim. However, the readings were fascinating and surprisingly eye-opening. My professor, Andrea Kremer, led wonderful discussions, and she was absolutely dedicated to helping out her students. Everyone had 30-minute one-on-one conferences with her to go over each essay before the due date, and she consistently made herself available to meet student demand. Overall, I loved the class, and I feel like my academic writing improved significantly in a period of only ten weeks.

The other two courses were much more traditional lecture courses. Bio 11 was huge (~170 students), and it's probably one of the biggest classes I'll take here. Here's a link to an explanation of what Bio 11 actually is - it's not at all like normal introductory biology. Math 23 was a normal math class: lots of lectures and problem sets. As a possible math major, I really enjoyed the class.

This winter, my classes are:
  • My Freshman Seminar: The Pentagon Papers
  • Spanish 10
  • Biology 13
I'll write more about these courses closer to the end of the term!

The Perfect College Town

Last week I got really sick for my first time at Dartmouth. I woke up on Sunday with a bad fever, chills, aches, and a sore throat: the classic symptoms of the flu. I tried to go to class on Monday, and after suffering through Spanish, I decided to get myself checked out at Dick's House. Shockingly, I had a 103.1 degree fever, and I quarantined myself to my dorm room. I did not leave my room once on Tuesday, and instead spent the whole day watching the entire first season of Dexter (12 hour-long episodes from start to finish). It was a lazy day.

My mom, being the worrier she is, was freaking out over how I'd be able to get anything to eat. Living in the River, being sick, and having to walk on crutches make eating a difficult feat. So my mom decided to call Lou's, a restaurant in Hanover, and beg them to bring me food. Apparently my mom and the owner really connected, because she ended up bringing me a care package of food and drinks all the way to my dorm. She even walked up three flights of stairs to help me get everything to my room. The restaurant doesn't normally deliver, but the owner was willing to bring me food on her own time to ensure I could eat.

Obviously, Dartmouth and Hanover really do go hand in hand. The town is such a part of the Dartmouth experience, and I've already started to feel such a connection to this tiny place.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Winter Break

I'm back at Dartmouth and finally taking the time to write a new post!

Winter break was fun, but also strangely exhausting. All in all, I was so ready to head back to Hanover by the end.

The Dodecs always go on a winter tour, and this year we chose to get away from the cold by visiting Miami and Key West. When we left Hanover on December 9th, weather.com actually reported a temperature of 3 degrees. Miami was... in the 80s? It was wonderful. We spent about a week in a hotel right on Miami beach, splitting four rooms between the 13 of us. Obviously, we spent as much time as possible on the beach, but we also had a lot of fun singing  at various venues - alumni clubs, schools, restaurants, etc. Here's a great picture of us after a high school performance. We're looking out over the water at the Miami skyline:






After Miami we drove about four hours to spend two nights in Key West. Our hotel was incredibly nice, and once again, situated right on the water. And I think we stayed there for free (maybe it was just a discount) because we performed for the hotel guests. On the last day in Key West, a friend and I spent our final hour lounging by the pool. I couldn't help but feel lucky that after only one term in college, Dartmouth had already let me spent ten days vacationing and singing basically for free. I only had to pay for meals and my flight home!

ALSO! In Key West we met one of early decision admits to the class of 2015! She was from Isla Morada, and I can't believe Dartmouth already has some 15s! In case you haven't figured out, Dartmouth loves prospies (prospective students), and we all were so excited to welcome the ED-admit to our school.

After tour was over, I flew back home (after being stuck in the airport for 8 hours...) and finally got some time to relax. I saw my most of my friends from home, celebrated Christmas with my family, and didn't have to worry about schoolwork at all. However, because of tour I only had two weeks at home, and I had to rush to get in time for all my friends.

Coming back to Hanover was great, and I already feel like I've been here forever. I just finished with my first class of the winter, and I had no trouble getting back into the academic routine. Unfortunately, I'm on crutches because of a stress fracture in my leg, and I have to survive two more weeks of limited mobility. I'm currently holed up in the library because it's just not feasible for me to head back to the River (SO FAR from everything else). I guess that's a legitimate excuse to have already spent hours in the library after the first day of class...