NEW QUESTION OF THE WEEK!

What do you think are the top 3 reasons prospective students should apply to Dartmouth?

Last Week's question of the week was...

What is your favorite extracurricular activity at Dartmouth and why?

The posts below answer last week's question.

Managing the Women's Baseketball Team

For the past two years, I have been the manager for the women's basketball team. Its been fun getting to travel with them to Ohio, Iowa, Arkansas and Texas. As manager, I have to attend all the practices and games. At away games, I help with ordering the meals and making sure everyone is fed. For home games, I get to meet the opposing team and set up the facility for them. We just finished winning our 17th Ivy League Championship and are looking for our 18th this season. However, it isn't all just work for me. The team has become some of my closest friends I have at Dartmouth.

Additionally, before the season started this year, we had an event called Hoops Hype in order to promote the men's and women's basketball teams.

STACCATO : )

STACCATO is Dartmouth's only step team. It was formed this past spring by a group of students who were eager to have a new extracurricular activity on campus. Normally stepping is associated with minority Greek fraternities/sororities, so this group of students wanted to make sure anyone could be involved. I thought it was a great idea because I am not associated with any Greek house, but I always wanted to learn how to step.
This past term I decided to join the step team and I've had a lot of fun. I was nervous at first, but I am happy I jumped out of my comfort zone and tried something new.

The Dartmouth Dodecaphonics

The Dartmouth Dodecaphonics is Dartmouth College's premier acapella group, celebrating 26 years of existence this fall. Dodecaphonics (Dodeca=12, Phonics=sounds) is a misnomer as the group has around 16-20 members depending on the term. The group is extremely diverse, with its membership spanning all years, majors, and home locations that Dartmouth has to provide. We sing mostly pop contemporary music from Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson to Brandy and Jason Mraz. The group mostly performs on campus at shows in fraternities and sororities and on Dartmouth's various stages, but we also go on a tour every year during the beginning of December (the beginning of Dartmouth's winter break). This year we are going to the Washington D.C./Maryland area.

Check out our new website for more information!

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dodecs/index.html

SHEBA (Strictly Hip-Hop Expressions Beats and Art)

SHEBA Dance Troupe is definitely my favorite campus activity! I'm one of the Directors this year and I absolutely love it!! I had never taken a dance class before coming to Dartmouth but now it's one of my greatest passions. I love learning new hip-hop routines, performing, and choreographing. I never really thought of myself as a creative person; however, dancing has allowed me to express a wide range of emotions and I really appreciate having that outlet. What's great about SHEBA is that it's completely student-run: we schedule our own shows, make our own mixes and create our own dances. We perform at a variety of venues, including school-sponsored events, sporting events, off-campus events at other Ivies, charity shows, and Greek houses. Here is a clip from one of our most recent off-campus shows:

I hope you enjoy :-)

Question of the week: What have you done with one of your leave terms (otherwise known as vacation terms)?

The posts below answer last week's question.

National Partnership for Women and Families

During my sophomore spring, I worked at a non-profit organization called the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington, DC. I was their communications intern so I had to update their website regularly, update the mailing lists, proofread press releases and organize a project for Mother's Day. My supervisor tried to get me out of the office as much as possible, so I also went to the National Public Radio to watch an interview of one of the health policy advisers. Additionally, I was able to attend a press conference surrounding the Paid Sick Days campaign on capitol hill. I had so much fun during my time there that I honestly am now considering working at a non-profit organization after graduating from Dartmouth.

SEAD

During my junior winter, I worked for the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth Program (SEAD) as a high school intern in El Cerrito, CA. The mission of SEAD is to expand educational opportunities for promising high school students in selected under-resourced urban and rural schools. As a SEAD intern, I worked with underprivileged students on homework assignments, SAT Prep and scholarship applications. Even though a lot of them lacked financial resources, I saw first-hand how much of a difference one person could make in terms of motivating them to achieve their very best. I don’t come from an affluent background either, but I was fortunate enough to have a strong support system of mentors and educators who believed in me and did everything they could to see me succeed. I found it only natural to mentor and support the next generation of students such as myself. So many people deplore the pitiful state of America’s school system, and yet very few people actually do anything about it. Working as a SEAD Winter Intern during my leave term is definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had because I felt like I was actually having a positive impact on the community.

Say What Magazine

During the summer after my junior year (this past summer), I was an intern at Say What Magazine, which is a part of Young Chicago Authors. The entire editorial board of the magazine consists of young people and the magazine is written for young people. It is used as a literary magazine, a classroom tool, and a general voice for youth voices. The magazine has a national and international readership of around 30,000. I was not only able to write three articles for the magazine, but also help establish a marketing (including social media) and distribution plan. We also went on field trips to cultural centers, poetry readings, and Time Out Magazine. The internship allowed me to gain experience in publications, journalism, and creative writing.

Check out Young Chicago Authors!

http://www.youngchicagoauthors.org/

Reading Intern

My freshman summer I decided to be a reading intern at a summer camp in Baltimore, MD called SuperKids. I found this internship through a Dartmouth Alum's mom who runs the program. My job was to help strengthen the reading skills of 1st and 2nd graders by teaching a class of about 10 of them. Every night I had to prepare a lesson plan that would involve the kids practicing different vowel sounds and reading short stories that had these specific sounds in them. The hardest part of this job was making the kids pay attention because it was the summer time, so I had to find creative ways to make the lesson plans fun. To supplement the classroom learning, enrichment programs would take place every afternoon. These programs consisted of going to the harbor and learning about pieces on a ship, playing games outside to learn about the environment, learning music notes to understand sound, etc...

This internship was one of my favorite experiences because it not only helped me become less timid, but it also allowed me to have a positive impact on someone's life. I am from Baltimore, so for me to be able to give back to the future leaders of my city was a good feeling : ).

Question of the Week: What was the hardest part of your transition into college?

The posts below answer last week's question of the week.

Seeking Help

The hardest part of my college transition was learning that it’s okay to seek out help if I’m struggling in a class; I’m not expected to be amazing at everything even though this is Dartmouth. Sometimes it can be hard to acknowledge that fact because after leaving a high school where you excelled in numerous things, you expect to be just as on point in college. During my freshmen year, I found that subjects that I had formally been really good at were all of a sudden a lot harder for me to keep up in and subjects I used to hate, I became really good at. Instead of continuing to feel sorry for myself, I learned quickly to seek out tutors and study groups from the academic skills center, when necessary, and also to be proactive about attending my professor’s office hours for additional advising. I also pushed my fear of speaking to upperclassmen aside and began to ask older students what they did to pass the classes I was taking. Once I realized that there was no stigma surrounding seeking help for courses, it became a lot easier for me to embrace the idea of getting assistance for my classes; Getting outside help for classes eventually led to my improvement in my courses.

Need Advice?

As a high school student, many of my academic choices were pretty much made for me based on what my school had to offer. As a college student at a place like Dartmouth, I quickly realized that opportunities for learning were endless. Recognizing that it was ok to be confused about academic choices and feeling comfortable enough to ask for advice was something I definitely struggled with at first. In high school, I didn't have to look very far for advice because I had access to centralized resources like the guidance office and the career center. Not to mention the path to college looked very much like a yellow brick road. In college, things are a lot more complicated and there are far fewer clear paths, if any. I learned that in order to take advantage of the opportunities here, I needed advice from others and in order to get the best advice, I really needed to be proactive. It took me a while, but I finally started speaking with upperclass students, faculty, undergraduate advisors, academic deans, students in my major department, etc. As early as freshman year, I was trying to decide whether to study abroad, intern in DC or complete research for a professor on campus and having a support network of peer-counselors definitely helped me make the right decisions.

I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T

The hardest part of my college transition was learning how to be independent. In high school, my parents were always my back-up alarm clock if I overslept, but I didn't have that same luxury when I first came to college. There was no one telling me to get up, to go to class, or to do my homework, so I really had to become more self-sufficient.
Going off to college is essentially equivalent to living on your own, so I couldn't really depend on my parents to do things for me anymore (i.e. like laundry or cooking dinner). Although it was hard at first, I can say that learning to be more independent has made me more responsible and more prepared for the real world.

Reading!

As a Government major and Environmental Studies minor, I have to do a lot of reading. College everywhere is different from high school in a number of ways, but the most difficult part of the transition for me was learning how to accomplish all the reading my professors expected. You will have to read more than you thought possible in college. Whereas in high school you have to read a chapter a night, in college, there is a strong likelihood you will have to read the whole book for the next class. Not to scare you or anything, but it's a lot of reading. Luckily, if you know this coming in, you can prepare yourself. Learn how to skim effectively. Dartmouth also offers a great speed reading course which a friend of mine recently took that helped him speed up significantly.

So be ready, but don't be scared. In college you get to take classes that interest you, so the reading isn't bad. It's a lot easier to read a book when its in a subject you love.

More info on academic resources here.

Balancing Act

The most difficult part about college is learning how to balance schoolwork with extracurricular activities. Since we only take three classes, we spend at most ten hours per week in the classroom! Just to give you an example, I am done with classes before noon every day. That is actually really daunting as a freshmen when your whole entire high school experience has been scheduled for you. You have so much free time that, if you are like me and like to keep busy, you will end up joining numerous amounts of clubs and activities and find that you don't have enough time to do your homework. Freshmen year, I would start my homework at 11 pm or midnight because during the day I was either working at the Fitness Center or attending meetings. In college, because there is no one telling you when to do your homework, it is hard to cut out time in order to sit down and actually complete the homework that professors assign or even to just study for an exam. However, I painfully learned the importance of cutting out activities in order to focus on my academics. Unfortunately, there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything that you want to do. Therefore, I have learned to dedicate hours towards two - three organizations that I care a lot about and save the rest of my time to be able to study and complete my schoolwork.

(Picture credit: http://trueanduseful.eponym.com/blog/SelfCareWellbeing/_archives/2007/2/27/2762244.html)

Question of the week: What have been some of your favorite performances or speakers at Dartmouth?

The posts below are responses to last week's question of the week.

Sweet Honey in the Rock

The best performance I have seen at Dartmouth (and possibly one of the best I have seen in my life) was during my junior winter by a all female vocal a capella group named Sweet Honey in the Rock. This Grammy award winning group is composed of have 5 members with a 6th member that interprets their songs in American Sign Language. They are incredible vocalists, drawing influence from African traditional songs, jazz, and the gospel music, spirituals, hymns of the African-American church. Their lyrics usually evoke some kind of contemporary narrative about their lives, womanhood, or other cultural issues. They incorporate a lot of audience participation during their shows as well. I have never felt so part of a performance. Not only was the music enrapturing but the sharing of thoughts and feelings between audience and performer was profound and something that I never felt before. I highly encourage you to check out their music!

(Photo courtesy of: http://hop.dartmouth.edu/2008-09/090123-sweethoney.html)

William Kamkwambe

If you haven't yet heard of William Kamkwamba, you should. At the age of 15, William built a homemade windmill in his small Malawian village out of bicycle parts and scraps from a local junkyard. He taught himself the basics of windmills via an old British science textbook, despite not being able to read english. From this initial project, William, now 22, has been able to provide electricity and running water to his village.

I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing William speak here at Dartmouth just a few weeks ago while he was on a tour of the US to both promote his book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and visit colleges he may be interested in attending. He, through the simple act of telling his story, was able to inspire all of us in the audience. I happened to also get the chance to give William a tour of the College, and he is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing people I have ever met.

Definitely check out his book and blog!

Marian Wright Edelman

Similar to Charnice's experience, I had the opportunity to hear Marian Wright Edelman speak as the keynote speaker during the week long celebration for Martin Luther King Jr. It was amazing for me in particular because I am very passionate about the education system in America. Having her come and speak her mind about the subject matter made me decide to become a education minor. Even though I am no longer able to fit the entire education minor into my schedule, I have still take education classes and participate in activities that involve middle school children.

Additionally, she was a very lively speaker for her age! She engaged with the audience in a way I haven't seen before. It was simply an amazing experience.

(Picture credit: http://www.californiawomen.org/assets/Uploads/Marian-Wright-Edelman-pf.jpg )