MIR ROR 1.10.2018
PARALLEL PATHS: ATHLETES AND NARPS | 2
BUMP: JAMIE MA '20, FLAIR ON | 3
HANOVER: CENTER OF WEALTH IN THE UPPER VALLEY | 4-5 SAMANTHA BURACK AND JEE SEOB JUNG/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
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Editors’ Note
Parallel Paths: Athletes and NARPs STORY
TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Divisions. How are we divided? Everyday we are faced with a series of choices, placing ourselves into a series of categories. We also arrive on campus, with vastly different experiences and backgrounds, which have already placed us into different groups, at least on first glance. What are the chief dividing factors that affect our Dartmouth experience, that affect which path we choose to the take when a path diverges in the woods? We divide our time, our love, ways of thinking — we divide ourselves. Is it possible to bridge the gaps that divide us and others within the larger community? Where are the divisions that exist in our community? In a time where America and many parts of the world seem to be ever the more polarized, will we be able to resolve our differences and work together? In this issue of the Mirror, we’ve decided to explore various types of divisions at Dartmouth: the economic divide between Hanover and the rest of the Upper Valley, the division and unity that the housing community has brought to campus, the geographic divide causing first-years to have different fall experiences and the division between student-athletes and non-athletes. We’ve also included an article about the math department (divisions, get it?). When reading this edition, you may realize that we are less divided than you thought we were.
follow @thedmirror 1.10.18 VOL. CLXXIV NO. 157 MIRROR EDITORS MARIE-CAPUCINE PINEAUVALENCIENNE CAROLYN ZHOU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RAY LU
By Eliza Jane Schaeffer
The life of an Ivy League athlete is unlike any other. During the season, football player Emory Thompson ’18’s day starts around 6 a.m., when he wakes up to lift weights with his team. He spends the bulk of the day in class, in meetings, at office hours, and then from 2 to 4 p.m. he meets with his team and coaches to watch films and discuss strategy. He has 30 minutes to change into his gear and then from 4:30 to 7 p.m. he has practice, showers and gets dinner with his teammates. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., he works on homework, and 5 hours later, he wakes up to do it all again. These practice times limit the classes athletes can take, who they can interact with outside of the team and the time they can dedicate to co-curricular activities. Days are a blur of workouts, classes, meetings, meals and homework, each activity gliding into another like a dance choreographed by coaches and academic advisors. Teammates prove to be steady partners in this dance. “Twenty-four hours in a day — you spend 12 to 13 with these same individuals,” Thompson said. “So how do you not form these crazy tight bonds, especially being pushed as you are in a way that most people don’t understand?” He sees the apparent division between athletes and non-athletes on Dartmouth’s campus as a function of “the support system [created by] hawving someone go through the same thing as you.” E m m a Wi n s o n ’ 2 0 , w h o walked on the crew team at the beginning of freshman year and quit sophomore fall, agrees. “I had a really awesome year, basically because of the awesome team spirit,” Winson explained. “You have a group of super strong women that are … super supportive. Everyone loves the sport, and everybody loves you.” Both Thompson and Winson said they have close friends outside of their teams — Thompson through small interactions with strangers which blossom into friendships and Winson through her freshman dorm. Sunny Drescher ’20, who took
a gap year to ride horses semiprofessionally but decided not to join Dartmouth’s equestrian team, has met her close friends through classes and extracurriculars. For the most part, her friends are not athletes. Although she considers her roommate, a member of the women’s soccer team, to be one of her best friends, she doesn’t “know if [they] would have met if [they] hadn’t been roommates ... Most of [Drescher’s roommate’s] close friends are on her team.” Drescher is glad she chose to “be a person totally separate from [riding],” though she admits it was difficult, at 18, to learn what she liked to do in her free time. At Dartmouth, she has gotten involved with programs run by the Rockefeller Center, such as the Dartmouth Leadership Attitudes and Behaviors program, FirstYear Fellows and the Management and Leadership Development Program, as well as the Dickey Center’s Great Issue Scholars and War and Peace Fellows programs. “I’m glad that I’m not riding here so I can give myself the opportunity to be a student in every sense of that and not just an athlete who goes to school,” Drescher said. Since quitting the women’s crew team, Winson too has had a chance to branch out and redefine who she is. “I met a bunch of people that I never would have met before, and I’ve been able to go out and meet people, and I’ve joined other groups, and now I’m not so focused on choosing classes that have a lighter workload,” she said. Winson feels that athletes do self-segregate in part because of bonding through collectivelyendured suffering and in part because of an almost subconscious sense of superiority. “As an athlete, you’re kind of subliminally told that you’re a little bit cooler than everybody else, that you have access to more things than the ‘NARPs’ [‘Non-Athletic Regular People’] do,” she explains. “And it’s really stupid, but you really buy into that. I definitely bought into that.” Thompson agrees that joining the football team granted him immediate access to a group of
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com for corrections.
PUBLISHER PHILIP RASANSKY EXECUTIVE EDITOR ERIN LEE PHOTO EDITORS TIFFANY ZHAI MICHAEL LIN
Correction Appended (Jan. 9, 2018): The Jan. 8 article “Q&A with Dickey Center associate director Melody Burkins” has been updated to clarify the duration of Burkins’ time in Europe and the description of her interests.
friends. “When I came to campus I had a hundred guys that I knew, so I had a place of belonging that a lot of people don’t have” he said. And though he recognizes the divide between athletes and nonathletes, Thompson doesn’t believe that the separation is deliberate, arguing that it is simply a function of athletes’ strict schedules. “The season is not a relaxing time.” he said. “Every practice is precious, every game is precious, and you’re really pushed to make the most of it.” From tearing through homework in the hours before going to bed, to squinting at readings on the long bus rides to away games, he has certainly learned how to manage his time. In fact, Winson found managing her schoolwork easier when she had 17 hours of practice each week. “You have certain amounts of time during your day in which you have to sit down and get your work done,” she said. In addition Winson believes the tough mindset cultivated by crew translates to the classroom. “You can do anything for 20 minutes: you can do schoolwork for 20 minutes,” she said. Varsity athletes gain a lot — access to resources provided by a network of alumni, a tight social network and an incredible work ethic — but they also lose the opportunity for social and academic experimentation and self-exploration. Furthermore, the insular athletic communities reinforced by intense training and tight schedules limit interactions between athletes and non-athletes. The dedicated varsity athlete, recently retired rower and exequestrian all acknowledged this divide. Though none viewed it as inherently bad, none were sure it could be remedied. Their attitudes toward the athlete-NARP divide reflects how most Dartmouth students feel about the issue. Athletes and non-athletes at Dartmouth run on parallel paths. We rarely discuss it — aside from half-hearted jokes about “Rocks for Jocks” classes and official unofficial seating assignments at the dining hall. But perhaps it is worth discussing. We are Dartmouth students first, and athletes, NARPs, singers, hikers, actors, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, recreational joggers, coffee enthusiasts, scientists and corporate sellouts second. “I love the game, but I am an individual, high-thinking young man, and I think that’s more my identity and the essence of who I am as a person,” Thompson said.
Bump: Jamie Ma ’20, flair on STORY
By Annie Farrell
Combining her love for fashion to you?”). The answers collected are and social media, Jamie Ma ’20 used to caption the pictures. Emily created a project last fall with a Morin ’20, the first student to be stated mission to explore “the featured on @dartmouthflair, has a personal and individual styles of light-hearted approach to fashion. the Dartmouth community.” Her Morin’s outlook on fashion was Instagram page @dartmouthflair included in the post’s caption: “To has since attracted over 800 me fashion and clothes are an easy followers and counting. way to have fun and spice up my Ma decided to model @ life. I think it’s a fun way to engage dartmouthflair after a similar with other people and get to know Instagram page that started at the someone when you like something boarding school she attended for they are wearing. It is a great way high school. Ma works hard to to break the ice!” ensure that her page represents a Ma’s next step is to meet with the diversity of the styles Dartmouth student so that he or she can model students embrace. That being said, a favorite outfit on camera. Ma Ma encourages students to reach snaps around 100 photos per session out to her through the account if and picks the best three to post on the account. One of the three they would like to be featured. photos is a “This account close up of is not about what “People don’t take the outfit, I think is good while the fashion,” Ma said. themselves too other two “I encourage people seriously. They don’t are usually to reach out … so action or that they can be care too much about p o s e d featured because whether or not they shots. they like their look will be judged. and they want to During talk about it.” the fall Upon receiving a -JAMIE MA ’20 term, Ma student request to be featured featured, Ma sends 12 students along a series of w i t h fashion-related and uniquely personal questions different for the student to answer. These questions range styles, including herself. Ma, who from the simpler (“What is your prefers to have students model name and major?”) to the more outside for the natural light, is still probing (“What does fashion mean figuring out how she will feature
students and their outfits during this winter. “That’s going to be difficult,” Ma said. “I will probably have to take photos indoors, especially in weather conditions like [these]. I think it is interesting to see how people decide to style themselves in this weather as well. Some people still very much dress up and some people don’t. Really, I just want people to be excited about what they have on.” Ma is also contemplating expanding the page’s content to feature “flair” outfits in addition to everyday wear with flair. The handle “@dartmouthflair” already hints at the slang designation for outrageous outfits seen on campus, but including these outfits would explicitly recognize flair as an integral part of Dartmouth’s style profile. Ma recently conducted an Instagram poll asking whether flair outfits should be featured on the account, and she received a large number of votes in favor of the idea. “Flair is such a big thing here,” Ma said. “I think that’s great. People don’t take themselves too seriously. They don’t care too much about whether or not they will be judged.” Being that Dartmouth is a small school located in a rural area, it does not have as sizable of a fashion scene as schools which are located in big cities. For example, students at Columbia University collaborate on a fashion magazine to highlight vibrant New York City fashion. However, Ma appreciates the laidback environment Dartmouth’s campus fosters and believes that this atmosphere positively influences students’ fashion choices. Dartmouth’s small community empowers students to try new looks without ridicule. “There’s less pressure to be and dress a certain way,” Ma said. “I think that comes across in [one’s] style.” In terms of her own style, Ma is very experimental. She attempts to imitate fun looks she sees on celebrities and finds on Instagram. Her go-to fashion items at the moment are sunglasses and statement earrings, but she likes to test new designs as much as she can. Despite her adept fashion sense, Ma still has difficulty coherently defining her style. “I have this account where I have people talk about their style, and I have a really hard time talking about [my style],” Ma said. “I think it is because we don’t think about [style] a lot. I don’t think it’s necessary that everyone thinks about it, but it’s not something to be embarrassed about if you care about your style or think about style.”
MIRROR //3
Jamie Ma hold a plant at the farmer’s market on the green.
COURTESY OF JAMIE MA
COURTESY OF JAMIE
COURTESY OF JAM
IE MA
MA
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Hanover: A Center of Wealth in the Upper Valley STORY
By Kylee Sibilia
Coming back to Hanover in the winter is like coming back to a different world: The entire campus is coated in a layer of beautiful snow, making everything glitter. Seeing the college looking this picturesque makes it even more shocking to travel to towns like Lebanon and White River Junction, where the slush has already turned gray, and white buildings with green shutters are replaced with boarded-up storefronts and weather-torn houses. Despite being located less than an hour away from Hanover, these towns are peppered with signs of poverty and neglect that are not often found in Hanover. Hanover was founded in 1761 and the College followed soon after in 1769. Hanover and Dartmouth are practically indistinguishable from each other. Many of the College’s senior and tenured faculty members call the town home, contributing to Hanover’s estimated median household income of $94,063 for the period from 2010 to 2014. CALLUM ZEHNER/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF The town’s and Dartmouth’s Hanover’s median income surpasses its neighbors’ due to a disparity in education, according to geography postdoctoral fellow Garrett Nelson. embedded history is partly responsible for the disparity in resources between Hanover and some of its For the period of 2011 to 2015 the Upper Valley median annual n e i g h b o r s . “There’s a kind of a household Po s t d o c t o r a l income of fellow Garrett gradient as you move Lebanon, New Nelson of the farther and farther away H a m p s h i r e geography was $53,004, d e p a r t m e n t , ... that’s partly because about half of whose research of housing prices, but Hanover’s. For focuses on the White River c o n n e c t i o n s it’s also partly because Junction, between social of the kind of cultural the median change and household l a n d s c a p e s , associations of a place income was explained that like Hanover.” even lower the town of at $39,652 Hanover has a for 2013 to cultural capital -GARRETT NELSON, 2015. Nelson that impacts attributed much GEOGRAPHY the makeup of of this economic its residents. inequality to POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW “There’s a disparity kind of a in quality of gradient as you move farther and education. farther away, “ I n so the College’s New England, “... Hanover and administrative each town is a e m p l o y e e s Lebanon have this school district,” t e n d t o l i ve Nelson said. sports rivalry, and one or two “School districts t o w n s o u t , ” sometimes it turns into are funded by Nelson said. a ‘spoiled rich kids’ kind local property “Custodial taxes, and local a n d s e r v i c e of stereotype ... I really property taxes e m p l o y e e s noticed that kids from are a function probably live of how valuable four and five other schools in New local property towns out, and Hampshire didn’t have is.” A town that’s partly l i k e H a n ove r b e c a u s e o f the same resources as I with relatively housing prices, did.” expensive but it’s also p r o p e r t y partly because generates more o f t h e k i n d -HANA DAI ’20 money off of of cultural property taxes, associations of which allows it SAMANTHA BURACK/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF a place like Hanover that’s seen as to fund its school district generously, much more elite.” Nelson explained. This makes the The Upper Valley is home to many towns that range in economic prosperity and tend to lean right politically.
MIRROR //5
SAMANTHA BURACK/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
There are a few attempts at the College to bridge the divide between Hanover and the Upper Valley, including classes such as Environmental Studies 7, “COVER Stories.” school district more attractive, which drives sometimes it turns into a ‘spoiled property values even higher. rich kids’ kind of stereotype,” Dai “There’s this circular effect, where said. “I never played sports, but I was people want to definitely aware move to a town like that stereotype Hanover because it “You don’t have to go existed. I really has a very elite public too much further until noticed that high school, and you kids from other can only go there if you’re in a town like schools in New you live in Hanover.” Dorchester ... which is Hampshire Hana Dai ’20, didn’t have the wh o g re w u p i n very right wing in terms same resources Hanover a n d of who it votes for, but as I did. I started attended Hanover to see that divide High School, said it’s still very white...” for what it was.” she sometimes It is not noticed divisions uncommon for between students -GARRETT NELSON, a college town to at her high school GEOGRAPHY contrast so starkly and students who w i t h t h e a re a POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW at t e n d e d s ch o o l s surrounding it. in the surrounding Nelson explained areas. that many college “I didn’t really towns across the notice it until high country d warf school, but Hanover the towns that and Lebanon have this sports rivalry, and surround them in terms of income
and quality of education. Hanover and the towns around “You tend to think of the classic it are extremely white, making picture of the Upper rich students Va l l ey ’s b r a n d r i g h t n e x t “... I’ve seen students of inequality less door to racially marked go off campus as part urban, poor than cases such communities of COVER Stories and as University that are of Chicago or are stunned by the often classed Yale. However, with racial difference in resources.” the economic minorities,” disparity also Nelson said. leads to interesting “ Yo u h ave -TERRY OSBORNE, differences in that with Yale political affiliation ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES [University] between the in N e w PROFESSOR towns in the Haven. The area. University of “ Yo u h av e a Chicago is town like Lyme, another great w h i c h i s ve r y example liberal in terms of that, of its electoral where the politics,” Nelson university is basically an island in said. “Votes for democrats, very white, Chicago’s very African-American very wealthy. You don’t have to go too and poor South Side.” much further until you’re in a town
like Dorchester, New Hampshire, which is very right wing in terms of who it votes for, but it’s still very white, much poorer than a place like Lyme.” Despite the political and economic divisions, the College has made efforts to bridge the gap between the Dartmouth-Hanover area and the surrounding community. For example, in environmental studies professor Terry Osborne’s eco-psychology class Environmental Studies 7, “COVER Stories,” students work with COVER Home Repair, a White River Junction based nonprofit organization that aims to provide needed construction services to community members who can’t afford them. Students aid in a variety of projects such as home repairs, weatherization or making a home handicap-accessible. Osborne noted the surprise he saw in his students when they realized how different surrounding towns differed from Hanover. “I’ve lived here a long time, so I clearly am aware of the disparities in resources in geography between certain towns, but it gets shown most clearly when I’ve seen students go off campus as part of COVER Stories and are stunned by the difference in resources,” Osborne said. “It’s just something that not many students who go here have been exposed to.” Nelson attributed some of the reason for Dartmouth students’ relative ignorance of the poverty that lies beyond Hanover’s town limits to the College’s desire to perpetuate itself as a global institution, focusing on solving problems of inequality all over the world, rather than on solving those right here at home. “I think there’s a tendency when we think about communities in need to either imagine the global poor, in places that are very distant from here, or in the United States we think of the urban poor,” Nelson said. “The rural poor that are right next door to Dartmouth sometimes aren’t as much on our imaginative radar. I think that sometimes Dartmouth can forget that it’s in a neighborhood that does have a lot of social needs and that there are opportunities to serve a community without having to get on an airplane.” The best way to combat the barriers that divide Hanover and other towns in the Upper Valley is raising awareness among students, faculty and the Dartmouth community, while continuing the progress made in connecting volunteer efforts at the College with the Upper Valley. “I think that’s a really important thing that’s happened much more intensely over the last five years — that the efforts have intensified and that Dartmouth recognizes that there are many really important reasons to keep the broader upper valley community healthy, to have communities be full and resourced and not forgotten,” Osborne said. Students and faculty alike who call Hanover home must continue not to forget that the bubble they live in is surrounded by those who need their help, and that we are all part of the same community.
6 //MIRR OR
House System: Divided but United STORY
By Nikhita Hingorani
The house system brings about But for the students who chose to familiarity and comfort to some, live in the residence halls ... they apprehension and novelty to would be moved all over the place, others. Nonetheless, since the fall which would disrupt all sorts of of 2016, it has become a key part relationships. One of the purposes of the Dartmouth experience. On [of the house communities] was its base level, the house system is simply the idea that students would a division of students across six always know ... where they are houses: Allen, East Wheelock, likely to return, and depending North Park, School, South and on their participation in housing West. Upon closer inspection, events, they would at least have a passing familiarity of however, the house the people that they system is far from are living with.” merely a division. “Dartmouth A n o t h e r Rather, its ability has always division on campus to create a sense of e v e n b e yo n d t h e community among had divisions undergraduate u n d e r g r a d u a t e in terms of student population students, graduate housing...” is one between students and undergraduate and professors alike is g raduate students. a creation of unity -KATHRYN LIVELY, Undergraduates may through the process SOCIOLOGY AND use some graduate of division. students’ facilities, A p r i m e SOUTH HOUSE share some professors component of the PROFESSOR and even take classes Moving Dartmouth in their departments, Forward initiative, the house system had been in but their interactions with the the works for a while before its graduate students themselves are initiation, according to South often few and far between. House professor Kathryn Lively. However, due to the recent Although the basic idea of a house initiation of resident fellows, community is shared among many a group of graduate students schools in the Northeast, it was selected to live within the house designed and implemented here on communities and serve as mentors, campus to perfectly fit the needs those interactions are becoming more common. Resident fellows of Dartmouth. “Dartmouth had been thinking often offer tutoring sessions or about this for many, many years hold brunches to get to know their prior to it actually happening,” residents on a more intimate level Lively said. “At various points, and ultimately ease the division delegations of faculty members between the two student bodies. and people from the Office of “We’re finding that many Residential Life would go to undergraduates, specifically those colleges and universities across the who are interested in pursuing country that already had housing graduate research, now have the systems. They went to Harvard ability to interact with graduate [University], Yale [University], students in a way that they never Middlebury [College] — they had before,” Lively said. would go to all the places and look Jae Oh ’21 believes that the for what worked, what didn’t work, resident fellows program has how can we take the best practices been a great asset to his first-year of these different organizations and experience at Dartmouth. make them work for Dartmouth, “I know that I want to pursue given our unique characteristics.” medicine, and both the older Lively believes that the creation undergraduates and graduate of the house system was aimed students I’ve met through my house towards students who wanted have been extremely helpful in to continue living in on-campus helping me plan how I’m going housing throughout their time at to achieve that goal,” Oh said. Dartmouth, especially for those “They have advised me on what who would utilize their off term classes I should take, how I can and then come back to campus excel in those specific classes and not sure where or with whom they just various ways I can ensure that I will have a successful future as a would live. “Dartmouth has always had physician.” divisions in terms of housing, The housing system has been through the Living Lear ning intergral in the transition to Communities, through [housing Dartmouth specifically for the in town] and through Greek ’20s and ’21s, because, in terms of organizations. People chose to live housing, it has been all that most of with other people on the basis of these students know. The First-Year their interests, commonalities and Residential Experience, which is just a variety of characteristics. designed to be a community in
which first-years can get to know their fellow first-year floormates in a more intimate manner, attempts to ease the college acclimation process. In addition, there are various Living Learning Communities that were created with first-year membership in mind that many students take advantage of in order to foster a community with a particular academic affinity. Though these programs may seem to add to the divide between firstyears and the rest of the classes, they often make first-year feel more comfortable and willing to make relationships not only among themselves but also with many other people on campus. Ko s Tw u m - A n t w i ’ 2 1 , a member of the Thought Project Living Learning Community, has nothing but positive reviews about her involvement. “My floor has really great people in it, and we bond very well,” she said. “So many freshmen applied to the Thought Project this year that it’s become an entirely freshmen floor. I don’t know if it’s due to our discussions, where we have to get deep and make an effort to listen to people, but we have all become extremely close with each other.”
NAOMI LAM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
House Center B serves as a study space for students.
She notes that she has been able to build many connections with first-years, upperclassmen and even professors, through her Living Learning Communities association and membership in East Wheelock. “Many of our discussions are led by faculty on a topic that they feel is important, and we get to create various relationships
through this,” Twum-Antwi said. “And as freshmen, we come in not really knowing anything, so we can express and connect in this fact. If we ever need any help, our UGA is a great resource, and she has friends who are other great resources. We get to do the typical freshmen events together — going to frats, running around the bonfire — so it’s been a good experience.”
MIRROR //7
8// MIRROR
Math and Its Divisions STORY
By Jacob Maguire
At Dartmouth College, which offers more than 60 majors and numerous other minors, the mathematics department is largely an enigma for the hundreds of social science and humanities students who fulfill their single QDS distributive requirement and move on. Contrary to popular belief, mathematics is a much more diverse and dynamic discipline than the introductory calculus and statistics courses that most students take. According to mathematics department chair Scott Pauls, mathematics courses at Dartmouth prioritize critical thinking and problem solving over computation. “There is a widespread misconception, especially in Math 3, which I teach, that mathematics is solely about computation,” Pauls said. “Finding an answer is important, but mathematics is more so about understanding how things work in a quantitative context, and computation is only a piece of that.”
Mathematics professor Anne Gelb echoed Pauls’ sentiments. “Mathematics is critical to learn how to analyze things that are important for everyday living,” Gelb said. “Looking at problems from a quantitative perspective is very much important, and even though mathematics is an old discipline, there are many current, cutting edge research topics to explore.” This summer, Gelb and fellow math professor Feng Fu will coordinate a program for undergraduates called the “Mathematics of Misinformation” in order to examine how numbers and data can address the current fake news crisis. In fact, Dartmouth offers many opportunities for student and faculty research in the realm of mathematics. For example, the Jack Byrne Scholars Program, a $20 million grant named after the late insurance executive and philanthropist Jack Byrne, supports undergraduate research, graduate research and faculty recruitment in
degree in mathematics. Sara Gagnon ’18, a New Jersey native, is pursuing a mathematics major and an art history minor and specializes in applied mathematics. “I always really liked math and numbers, ever since I was young,” Gagnon said. “I initially thought about majoring in economics, but I ultimately chose to pursue applied math because the marriage of numbers and data fascinates me.” Gagnon also likes the similar structure of all of the math courses at Dartmouth. With the exception of one projects-based course that she has taken, all of her other math courses at Dartmouth have included nightly homework assignments, one or two midterm exams and a final exam. She has also never had to take multiple mathematics courses concurrently. Gagnon, who will join a consulting firm in Boston after she graduates from Dartmouth this June, highly recommends that numbers-oriented
students consider pursuing a mathematics major or minor at Dartmouth. “The introductory courses can be pretty intimidating, so don’t get discouraged,” she said. “It gets better as you get older. If math and numbers interests you, I would definitely recommend that you consider majoring or minoring in math.” Pauls strongly believes that, in addition to being useful and practical in the real world, a solid background in the realm of mathematics is a key component of a well-rounded liberal arts education. “Not only is mathematical training practical for any major, and perhaps I’m being a bit idealistic, but it is one of the foundations of intellectual progress in some sense, classically and modernly,” Pauls said. “It is a skill set that is important for understanding how the world works and it gives a particular perspective of things that complements other perspectives.”
that’s been a little harder,” he the language or culture. — said. There are some perceived Haris, meanwhile, said that divisions between international winter term has been more difficult students and domestic students, for him than fall had been because but they do not seem to get in of the longer break in between the the way of students from the two two terms. groups intermingling. “ I w e n t b a c k h o m e a n d “What I have observed is that reminded myself of how home most internationals hang out with was, and then I come back here other international students, which and you kind of realize that this is is good, because you have people your everyday life from now on,” with common backgrounds,” Haris he said. said. However, he “Initially, you see In general, added that many it as an adventure, h o w e v e r, h e inter national r e m a rk e d t h a t students are able you know, meeting he had not had to keep going by new people, going any trouble viewing it as an making friends abroad, studying adventure. at D a r t m o u t h , “ I n i t i a l l y, hard, achieving both with other you see it as an whatever goals you international adventure, you and nonknow, meeting have.” international new people, students. going abroad, S i m i l a r l y, studying hard, -THEMIS HARIS ’21 students from the achieving Northeast tend to whatever goals congregate with you have,” he each other to a said. certain extent. Y a n g ’ s “I’m happy transition from that my friends Taiwan to the are somewhat U.S. brought him similar feelings. nearby,” Islam said. When he first moved, he was Another challenge is navigating excited by the new culture and way different school systems. Yang of life, but at the same time had said that in Taiwan, students take fears related to being in a foreign entrance exams starting from country and not accustoming to middle school. Depending on how
well one scores, students are able to major in certain areas of study. Similarly, in Greece, one takes tests to be placed into certain colleges, Haris said. “My dad, he tells me he still has nightmares of being in the day of examinations and not remembering stuff,” said Haris, emphasizing how intense the exams can be. Despite having completely different backg rounds, all three students had somewhat similar experiences adjusting to Dartmouth. While the transition to college brings exciting experiences, it also brings new doubts and fears. Whether one lives two hours away or 12 hours away, once at the College, they can face similar challenges. Someone from Greece may be just as excited and nervous as someone from Texas or Massachusetts; no matter how alone one feels, there are other students out there facing the same worries. Haris said he still faces doubts. “At the back of your mind, you have that thought of, you know, ‘Am I going to go back or am I going to just keep traveling or am I going to, you know, spend my life abroad and not have regular contact with my homeland?’” Haris said. “This is kind of something that concerns me a bit, and I keep thinking about it. It’s still an adventure to me, so we’ll see.”
the department of mathematics. Not only is mathematics a somewhat misunderstood discipline at Dartmouth, but the mathematics major and minor are more open-ended than many students realize according to Pauls. In the mathematics department students can pursue a major or minor in applied or pure mathematics. “Many students seem to believe that there’s only one math major, but in fact, the mathematics major is fairly flexible,” Pauls said. “Not only do we have different flavors of our major, such as a new major in mathematical data science, but there is a lot of flexibility in our traditional math major. Little is prescribed, and that often surprises students.” Between 4 and 5 percent of the students in each graduating class pursue a mathematics major at Dartmouth, making it the ninth most popular undergraduate major. In the Class of 2017, for example, 43 out of 1,069 graduates received a bachelor’s
Cultural Counterpoints STORY
By Christopher Cartwright
The first year for college and other international students students can bring massive changes get to know each other, since most to their lives, from making new of them tend to attend the same friends to keeping up with the sections. academic pressures. Islam had a similarly smooth The adjustment to college can transition to Dartmouth as well. be even more challenging if one “It’s been pretty easy because is moving to a new country for my parents are so close by,” he the first time, which is the case said. for international students. Three Initially, he was worried that first-years reflected on how the he might have to attend a college distance of their hometowns near on the West Coast but was and far, to campus impacted their relieved when he was accepted to fall experiences. Dartmouth. Themis Haris Yang has had ’21, a student “Being more experiences f ro m G r e e c e, as both an i s s t u d y i n g independent — international e n g i n e e r i n g . that’s been a little and domestic Aadil Islam ’21, harder.” student, but a student from his Dartmouth Burlington, transition Massachusetts, -TIMOTHY YANG ’21 was easier in is considering comparison to majoring in math his transition to and possibly high school. c o m p u t e r “I already had science. Timothy a huge transition Ya n g ’ 2 1 , a coming from a student from Houston, Texas Taiwan middle school to an who, is interested in majoring in American high school,” he said. psychology, grew up in Taiwan but For all students transitioning at the end of eighth grade moved to college, though, there can to attend high school in Houston. be difficulties. Islam said that H a r i s c re d i t s h i s s m o o t h his experience has been easier transition at the beginning of because of the short distance to his the term to College-sponsored hometown, but navigating social programs such as International life at the College has proved more Orientation Week. Harris added challenging. that First-Year Trips helped him “Being more inde pendent