All good things come to an end

Whew! What a busy weekend.

We're sorry that you weren't able to attend Dimensions, but we hope that this Dimensions blog gives you a sense of what a wonderfully vibrant place Dartmouth is.

We love it and we're sure that you would too. Please e-mail us if you have any questions! We'd be happy to hear from you.

Janelle.Braverman@dartmouth.edu
Amanda.Rosenblum@dartmouth.edu

Cultural Expressions takes Collis Commonground by storm

The walls were radiating from loud (and incredible) performances, and '11 cheers, throughout Cultural Expressions tonight. 11 (good number, eh?) groups of Dartmouth students showed off their talents and hours and hours of hard work on the stage in Commonground as part of an evening of fun events tonight celebrating the end of Dimensions and of your acceptance to the college.

Each of the groups phenomenal in their own right, each had a character and style that they were eager to present to the prospies and their friends in the audience. Ujima and SHEBA rocked with their hip hop dance moves, all student-choreographed, while Occom Pond, a Native American Powwow drum group captivated the crowd. The Dartmouth Chinese Dance Troupe and Hokupa'a. Dartmouth's Hawaii Club, beautifully showed off their rich cultures with their dress and dance moves, and the Rockapellas, Dartmouth College Glee Club, and the Gospel Choir brought down the house with their voices. The belly dancing was my absolute favorite; I am sad for those of you that will miss graduating senior Dunya Onen's ridiculously-hot talent. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.'s step show was also impossible to glace away from, even for a second. Their energy was infectious; once they hit the stage, the show had reached the point of no return.

This was the best performance nights I have ever been to at Dartmouth.

Native Community Dinner

As soon as I walked into the Native American House I felt instantly welcome. I walked outside and quickly joined some other students who were playing catch with a football. It was a beautiful day. Students were playing around, sitting on the grass chatting, or just waiting patiently for the delicious meal to begin. After most people had settled into the house, everyone, including faculty, staff and students gathered in a large circle for brief introductions, concluding with a blessing over the food and all the people present. I felt so comfortable throughout my visit. There was always so much peace and respect. After the meal, three students introduced themselves more thoroughly. One student spoke about the academic challenge he faced his first year and how with the help of Dartmouth’s resources, he was able to succeed academically. Another student spoke about the transition from her small village in Alaska of 31 people to Dartmouth’s campus, finding that with the support of the Native American Community she found a home that helped foster her personal and academic ambitions. I was certainly impressed!

Oh The Places You'll Go Panel

Oh The Places You'll Go, a Dr. Seuss (Dartmouth alum) reference, is meant to bring to mind all the possibilities at Dartmouth and abroad, all the spaces you can inhabit, all the academic pursuits you can follow, and the journey these four years will prove to be in determining the rest of your life.

Karl Furstenberg moderated this panel of four phenomenal seniors, each unique, special, and brilliant, though not atypical in terms of breadth of experiences in each of their classmates. What each one tried to convey was that Dartmouth professors, administrators and staff treat ALL of their students this well, and that the most amazing of terms and opportunities can simply fall into your lap just by getting to know the people here.

• Troy Stewart created his own social policy major, and has pursued everything from corporate law to investment banking in his quest to find out what career will best suit him right after college. Though the weather and the town might not have been what he was expecting, he has fallen in love with Dartmouth because of the individual attention he was afforded by mentors from the very beginning of his first-year, through to graduation (and beyond).
• Yuki Kondo-Shah has decided that she would love to work in higher education, but not before an internship in Tokyo, learning Chinese, and studying Government in London; as part of Casque and Gauntlet senior society, she has been a premier activist on campus, and an incredible role model for younger women (and men).
• Allie Gathany knew she was interested in Medicine (mostly from the television show E.R.) but didn't know how that would manifest itself until her professors guided her towards biochemistry and molecular biology research in a lab, beginning her first year, and in and out of the pre-med track. She even picked up a french minor along the way, not before doing a language study abroad in France, and did a service trip to Africa. She is now headed to Yale to study public health, and wants to do work with diseases internationally.
• The last speaker was Nathan Sigworth, a transfer student who was doing a year at Dartmouth (after not being admitted the first time) to study engineering, and then simply couldn't leave. Two of his three classes his first term here quite literally changed his life. The first was a religious conflict class, where he wrote a paper on a conflict that currently exists in India, and his professor told him to go (on his own, with translators) and do real research there! A once-in-a-lifetime chance, albeit dangerous and intimidating, Nate was entrusted with this heavy task of interviewing people first-hand, and communicating with his professors weekly about his findings and reactions, throughout the term. His second class was an introduction to engineering class, where he invented the GyroBike with three classmates. A Dartmouth alum wrote their patent for this device that keeps bikes upright (so there is no need for training wheels) for FREE, and Dartmouth has given them 100% of the rights; he is currently in negotiation to sell his invention to a company that is interested. His last plea to the audience to "come to Dartmouth" certainly resonated after these panelists finished detailing all the ways in which they never would have come to this place of success, achievement, and self-realization had it not been for this college.

DHMC visit

This event was soo successful! 14 prospective students, 6 Dartmouth undergraduates and 1 Med school student met outside the Hopkins Center to board a microbus and a van en route to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a nationally ranked academic medical center; and it’s only 10 minutes away from campus! We wanted to give prospies a sense of how easy it is to work at the DHMC. Most of the Dartmouth students found their internships through the JobNet server offered by the College while others were connected to their researchers through contacts with professors or peers. With the Dartmouth students as our guides we walked around the facilities, including the Cancer Center and the Psychiatry department passing a variety of labs along the way where we were able to see first hand researchers and Dartmouth students at work. Not going to lie, I was very impressed and I’m pretty sure that was the general sentiment.

Student Advisor Open House

This Panel gave visitors the chance to get to know the people at the College who directly help the students navigate through academic, social and cultural experiences. Many of the student advisors work for the Office of Pluralism and Leadership. The primary goal of OPAL is to promote and universalize diversity and leadership development at Dartmouth College. Advisors work with individual students as well as student communities and organizations to encourage and facilitate academic, personal, social, and cultural development and success. Nora Yasumura (Assistant Dean of Student Life & Advisor to Asian & Asian American Students), Mattie Stevens (Interim Advisor to Black Students), Xenia Markowitt, (Director of Center for Women and Gender), Alexander Hernàndez-Siegel (Assistant Dean of Student Life & Advisor to Latino/a Students), Pam Misener (Assistant Dean of Student Life & Advisor to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Students), and Michael Hanitchak (Director of Native American Program) are all excellent resources for students. Individual conversations with advisors followed long after the panel was over!

Dimensions - Day 3 Events

• Financial Aid Open House
• Student Life Open House
• Rockefeller Open House
• Thayer Engineering Tour and Information Session
• Student Activities Fair
• Oh! The Places You'll Go
• President's Reception
• Native Community Dinner
• Cultural Expressions