Friday, November 5, 2010

TDR: Who Wants to Reform Dartmouth Night?

Shared from The Dartmouth Review:
Every year, on a righteously cold October evening in Hanover, the entire freshman class of our College assembles, cluster by cluster, into a massive parade of spandex, class jerseys, green flair and face paint, and winds their way towards the Green.  The bonfire site is cordoned off with caution tape of about a 40 ft radius, and a second ring of tape, about 30 ft further out, forms a track-like ring around the blaze.  The freshmen parade is channeled into this space at the end of their march across campus.  After a brief word by President Kim and a considerable amount of effort by S & S, the wood catches fire.  Spurred on by adrenaline, alcohol, spirit, and tradition, the freshmen begin running their laps around the bonfire: 100 plus the number of their class year (this year they will be challenged to run 114 laps).

This year, however, three concerned upperclassmen formed a committee and have been working around the clock to make this year’s bonfire a more “positive and inclusive” experience for the whole Class of 2014. Callista Womick ’13, Matthew Dahlhausen ’11, and Farzeen Mahmud ’12, have been collaborating on this initiative for almost a month, each focusing on improving different aspects of the freshman “Dartmouth Night” experience.

A variety of traditions that surround the Homecoming bonfire.  Upperclassmen typically yell aggressively at freshmen to “touch the fire!” and that they are the “WORST CLASS EVER!!!”  According to Womick, however, it is not these particular “verbal traditions” that their “inclusivity efforts” are focusing on.  “We’re not trying to eliminate traditions that are all in good fun,” Womick explained.  “Yelling those things, it’s silly and it’s part of the experience.  What we’re trying to get rid of are the things that are cruel.  It’s not fun to get punched in the face or spit on by an upperclassman.  Excessive rough-housing can make people really uncomfortable.”  Womick said that her experience at Bonfire last year was not completely negative, but was definitely mixed. “I had fun, but I definitely judged certain upperclassmen.  I witnessed a lot of verbally abusive, rude, and threatening comments, and I know a lot of people who left early and felt extremely uncomfortable.  Students think it’s their right to do certain things just because it happened to them.  We want to change that precedent.”

Womick also made it clear her group is not aiming to remove alcohol from the event entirely.  “We know that people drink at Bonfire, and that’s fine, it’s their choice.  But when they come really inebriated, shouting, kicking and punching freshmen, pushing them back in when they try to exit the mob, that’s when we start to really object to the behavior.”

Dahlhausen, Mahmud, and Womick have organized a number of upperclassmen, and are approaching these concerns from different angles.  “It’s a total grassroots effort,” Womick explained. “We’re starting conversations with upperclassmen all over the place, and that’s where this has got to start, by making people think about it.”

Dahlhausen has been focusing on changing the dynamics around the bonfire itself, by encouraging anyone who knows a ’14 to come out and cheer on their friends.  “He’s organizing lots of volunteers, particularly trip leaders, to come out wearing flair and to run with the ’14s who elect do to all the laps, giving them encouragement and support,” Womick explained.  Dahlhausen is also working on setting up a water station, a clearly designated exit lane, and a number of boom boxes to inspire the runners.  The size of the outer circle of tape around the fire itself has also been expanded by ten feet, so as to give more space to the runners and allow more room for people to avoid the extreme heat when the fire is first lit.  Dahlhausen’s group has also gotten 20-25 volunteers trained in crowd control, who will try to prevent the rough pushing, tripping, and trampling that often occurs because the entire class (1,300 people this year) is confined to such a small space.

Womick and Mahmud have also been working to organize a large dance in Collis Commonground after the bonfire, called “the Embers.”  Womick described how “by the time people finish running laps, its still too early for them to ‘go out,’ and having a formally organized dance nearby provides a non-alcohol social option for ‘14s without their having to leave the immediate area.”

Some upperclassmen have expressed displeasure with Womick, Dahlhausen, and Mahmud’s efforts, arguing that their initiative aims to eliminate the harmless traditions that make Dartmouth Night special.  As one ’13 put it, “That’s like, the single, two-hour period of hazing that they get for just being freshmen.  Why do we have to get rid of the one, brief time where they pay their dues for their position on campus?  It’s part of Dartmouth tradition, and it’s just not a big deal.”

Womick addressed these concerns, saying, “Bonfire is an event for the entire community.  If people elect later on to join groups that sanction hazing and other types of ‘initiation,’ that’s fine.  But it’s not appropriate to bring that into Bonfire, which is effectively a mandatory event for the freshman class.”  She also drew a line of distinction, specifying what her initiative is really targeting.  “It’s not the ‘worst class ever’ chants and the demands that freshmen ‘touch the fire.’  It’s the physical aggressivity, and the threats. It’s okay to have fun.  It’s not okay to be mean.”  Womick cited the positive precedent of DOC First Year Trips, which she believes are very successful at achieving a balance between tricking the ’14s with pranks and genuinely welcoming them with the extensive efforts of the Croos and Trip Leaders.

“We’ve gotten an unbelievably positive reception from upperclassmen since we blitzed out,” Womick said, “and with the help of such a diverse cross-section of campus, we’re really hoping to change the overall culture of Bonfire for years to come.”  While it would seem that obstreperous upperclassmen and excessively fratty bros will remain a Homecoming constant for years to come, it seems that the initiative of Womick, Dahlhausen, and Mahmud may have tapped into a simmering reformist spirit at the College. Nonetheless, the chant this year will still reverberate around the Green, as it has for generations: the Class of 2014 most undoubtedly is, and will remain, the Worst Class Ever.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Scene Sixty-Two: INTERNSHIPS

From first-years to seniors, the word INTERNSHIP produces ebullient enthusiasm. Or sometimes severe nausea.

In preparation for our future careers in i-banking/consulting/(does anyone actually go into anything other than that?)/etc., and to avoid spending extended periods of time back in the nests that we have already flown, we tend to spend our off-terms in a career-oriented capacity.

Well, most of us.

I'm not one to do things the traditional way. This past summer I worked as a Residential Counselor for Duke TIP Summer Studies and had a wonderful time making door-decs, enforcing bedtimes, filling water balloons, and the like. This term, in addition to modeling for the Studio Art department and taking classes and doing everything else that I do, I have two internships.

The first is for OPAL as a Diversity Peer Leadership Program Intern. Essentially, I partake of weekly training under the guidance of Nora Yasumura and take the skills that I learn into the real world by facilitating discussions about gender, sexuality, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion, and ability in both formal and informal settings. Sometimes I am invited by a UGA to run a short workshop with a floor, sometimes it's something more informal over dinner at Home Plate. In any case, I get people engaged.

My second internship is with the nonprofit organization Global Grassroots. I work directly with founder and president Gretchen Wallace on a variety of projects. On schedule for this term are an annual report of Global Grassroots' progress from the previous year and a new business card for CVTS.

No, they're not traditional. But this is what I enjoy, and above all else: happiness. Perhaps if more of my peers agreed with me they would know far more ebullient enthusiasm and far less nausea.


*** Update 1 (15 June 2011): The Global Grassroots annual report for 2010-2011 is now available!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Scene Sixty-One: C'est my Vie

I make the most of every day, but some days are just better than others. This one, for example. That's not at all what I expected.

See, I failed my first Arabic midterm. And I don't use the term 'fail' lightly. I did not pass and I knew it when I turned it in.

It happens, moving on.

This morning after class Professor Kadhim called me aside to speak about it, which (although a bit embarrassing) was expected enough. What he had to say- that was unexpected.

"I'm not going to count this one, ok? But the next midterm that we have will count double for you."

Jaw drop.
Gratitude.
Grin and skip.

On to Shakespeare, where we're covering A Midsummer Night's Dream.

To illustrate the simple yet complex parallelism and contrast that weave Shakespearean yarns, Professor Gamboa read aloud Go, Dog! Go!- one of my favorite children's books. He even used the doc-cam to show us the pictures.

Then (as if this day couldn't get any better), I got an extra slice of sushi in my lunchbox from the Hop. Some days are just better than others.

© Copyright Callista Womick 2010

*** Update 1 (11 Nov. 2010): I made an A on my second midterm. : )

Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Dartmouth: Group works to improve bonfire

Shared from The Dartmouth:
The typical Homecoming bonfire experience of heckling at the hands of upperclassmen, who insist that first-year students must "touch the fire" or are the "worst class ever," may be too intimidating for some, according to several upperclassmen currently trying to make the bonfire a more positive event for first-year students.

"I want Homecoming to be more mutually enjoyable," Callista Womick '13, a member of the group, said in an interview. "Upperclassmen have fun hazing, but freshmen don't necessarily enjoy it."

The group held an open meeting attended by 14 students on Tuesday night to discuss the issue.

Womick said she received over 50 responses in the first hour after sending an e-mail invitation to the meeting from people who wanted to be involved but could not attend that night, she said.

"There are a lot of people who didn't have a good time on their Homecoming night, and would be willing to see it change," said Billy Zou '12, who did not attend the meeting but who supports the group's efforts.

"Part of the problem is that a lot of people have a lot of different ideas about what [Homecoming] is supposed to be," Zou said. "We have to send a collective school message. Changing the whole thing to be entirely positive would be a much more meaningful experience."

New to the bonfire this year will be a lane used by students to bring water in or to help freshmen in need of help to exit the bonfire. These came as a result of the students' suggestions, according to Farzeen Mahmud '12, one of the students who originally proposed that improvements to the bonfire ceremony be implemented.

The official bonfire committee independently of the group has also decided to expand the circle where students run around the bonfire. While the distance between the fire itself and where students run used to be 40 feet, this year it will be 50 feet. The outer circle will be at the 150 foot mark. Group members said will improve first-year students' experiences.

Matt Dahlhausen '11, one of the original student organizers, said he has personally handed out water at the past two bonfires, but that Dartmouth Emergency Medical Services could perhaps handle water distribution this year.

Programming Board had already planned an event in Collis Common Ground for Homecoming night, which has been made into a dance party at the group's request, Mahmud said.

Involved students hope to encourage upperclassmen who were offended by the negative atmosphere who might not otherwise attend to instead help change the mood of the evening via their supportive presence, Womick said.

Students could personally provide paint with which upperclassmen may decorate themselves on Homecoming night, according to Mahmud. First-year students will thus be able to recognize the painted upperclassmen as specifically there to help them, Mahmud said at the meeting.

Toward the end of the night, upperclassmen will be encouraged to support freshmen by running with them for a few laps, Dahlhausen said at the meeting.

Like-minded upperclassmen could also cheer during the first-year student sweep, Mahmud said.

Students who led Dartmouth Outing Club first-year trips should also be specifically encouraged to cheer for the first-year students they know, the group suggested.

Some other ideas proposed during the meeting included free massages, positive messages written in chalk on sidewalks and boom boxes to play music as first-year students run around the fire.

Group members also considered talking to sports teams that they said were notorious for causing problems.

"Homecoming isn't about hazing '14's so they feel tight as a class," Zou wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth. "There are plenty of opportunities for that. It's about welcoming them to Dartmouth, and it's about feeling tight as a college. In many ways, it is a celebration of our togetherness in this transient four-year experience."

Some upperclassmen may intend for their negative feedback to gradually become positive as the first-year students continue to circle the bonfire, Zou said.

"Those [first-year students] who exit early never experience the positive moments, if such moments ever come, and upperclassmen get caught up in the jeering and forget to transition to positive things," he said

A difficulty of addressing the negativity of Homecoming is that it presupposes that the ceremony is indeed negative, members of the group said.

Garret Simpson '11, who attended the meeting, said he feels the group is composed of a loose association of people with a common interest, and is not a formal organization.

He was inspired to become involved in changing the Homecoming atmosphere when he considered how much more positive first-year trips were than the bonfire.

Several students interviewed by The Dartmouth also noted the discrepancy between their trips' welcoming atmosphere and the conversely negative atmosphere of Homecoming, but other students said they felt that the atmosphere at the bonfire was either not negative or not an issue.

"I don't think there should be a change," Austin Greenfield '12 said.

The students involved with the movement said they did not mind the varying degrees of commitment across campus.

"If people don't feel like this is a big issue, I don't think any less of them," Simpson said.

The movement is intended primarily to increase comfort overall.

"Dartmouth is home to everyone, and so everyone should feel at home," Womick said.

Scene Sixty: Milque and Cookies

Every term, Phi Tau holds a campus-wide event called Milque and Cookies. The purpose of this event, as you may have guessed, is to consume copious amounts of milque and cookies.
  • What is milque?
  • Where do the cookies come from?
  • Who are these madcaps?
Excellent questions.
  • Milque is a special, spiced, milkshake-esque mixture that Phi Tau prepares and serves by the vat (or, in this year's case, the pumpkin) specifically during M&C.
  • The cookies come from three days worth of in-house baking. Yes, they're all homemade. Phi Tau provides the ingredients and the kitchen, brothers and campus at large provide the manpower and creativity. This year I made four different kinds of vegan cookie (the best of which were Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with raspberry jam filling, image below). Of the (literally) thousands of cookies, flavors range from bacon (an old favorite) to lace (a new favorite) to chocolate chip (traditionally delicious) to peanut butter curry (nontraditional, but delicious). It's a spectacle.
  • Such are they.

© Copyright Callista Womick 2010

Have you ever eaten cookies under a disco ball?


© Copyright Callista Womick 2010

(The above is just one of several tables of cookies in one of three such cookied rooms.)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Scene Fifty-Nine: DartTalk

This weekend began with a blitz about BFAB @NOW, which would have been better if a shmob hadn't nomed all the chocolate chip pancakes before I stumbled to Brace with my fifoon and foco bowl in hand. It was chill, though, because one of my trippees was hosting a prospie so I got some facetime in with them at Homeplate and had no fewer than three pav cookies (how else am I going to burn all my DBA?). The prospie thought I was pretty crunchy, especially after I suggested we walk to the BEMA to see Robert Frost...

Wait, what?

Dartmouth has a vocabulary all its own: see to it.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Scene Fifty-Eight: Rush

Dartmouth has a very open Greek party scene, but this weekend not a single house will open its doors to freshmen, or anyone not interested in joining for that matter.

This is the weekend which Greek-aspiring upperclassmen (the college doesn't allow students to join before completing three terms on campus) have anticipated and dreaded. For the gents, it is a more relaxed process: they go to the houses that they like for as long as they like. For the ladies it's more regimented: they visit each house at least once for no less than 45 minutes in a tightly organized, tiered system.

H'orderves will be swallowed, yawns will be swallowed, egos will be swallowed, etc.

Once the dust settles some people will run crazy through Novack Cafe clutching their newly acquired bids while their less-blessed friends shy off to mope in solitude. It's a brutal process, for sure.

As for me, I choose to watch sorority rush from the sidelines. Earlier this week I attended Phi Tau's first night of rush and signed the book with my bestie Rebecca Drapkin. Later, as we sat in Novack, a horde of Taus decked in flair and bearing standards of the house (a Jolly Roger and a rainbow among them) stormed in, belting "Happy birthday to you..!" and attempting to light candles atop two homemade cupcakes.

"We like you, we like you! We really REALLY like you!" they chanted as they decked each of us with a bid-bedazzled fedora. Then, just as quickly as they'd come, they were gone.

Most remarkable about this display, though is that it wasn't particularly remarkable. Not one of the students studying in the cafe batted an eye. This is Dartmouth, after all.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Scene Fifty-Seven: Hey '14s, want to be me?

  1. Do you go to Dartmouth?
  2. Are you a member of the class of 2014?
  3. Do you want to help convince other amazing people like yourself to come here?
Then apply to join the Admissions Bloggers and share your Dartmouth Experience. The application is super short and super easy, so what are you waiting for? We want you. We really do.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Scene Fifty-Six: JACKOlanterns

From gag blitzes about an "open house at Sphinx" to "Drinkin' Time", whenever something is amiss on campus we're wont to suspect The Jacko. So when my roommate told me yesterday that he'd received a blitz proclaiming that flooding had filled the Connecticut River with pumpkins and people were scooping them out by the armful.. well, naturally I was skeptical.

As it turns out, I should have gone.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Scene Fifty-Five: SART

My inner debate was ruthless, but in the end I won. Foregoing more "practical" academic pursuits, namely those which would pave the popular path to med school, I am taking Studio Art 15- Drawing I. The work load is infamously monumental. And I love ever stroke of it.

Ever since I developed the motor skills necessary to grasp a mark-making tool, my imagination has galloped across the walls, canvases, physics tests, and sidewalks of my life. More recently I found a love of collage-making and incorporating found items into otherwise more traditional pieces. I'm a magpie, it's said: I pick up bits of string and broken umbrellas and anything else I can carry home. Sometime I may be able to use it, after all.

This seems simple enough: I make art, I should study art. But it isn't that easy. As dearly as I love rendering my own reality out of items that belong to another, I don't see how that benefits anyone other than myself, and I can't stand the thought of existing without improving others. For all that I am, selfish is not in my repertoire.

But what of it? After some much-needed perspective adjustment (enter a nod to Ayn Rand) I determined that even from selfish acts can others benefit. So I'm elbow-deep in charcoal and shredded paper, spending hours staring down a junky heel and some ferns on pedestals. Translating, sheet by sheet, my mind to paper. Enjoy.

© Copyright Callista Womick 2010

Monday, September 27, 2010

Scene Fifty-Four Point Five: Roommates

Privacy is as much a priority as you make it and, as indicated by "my" previous post, I sometimes slack off. I leave my room door open. Neglect to connect my bike lock. Leave my laptop logged in when I shower.

My roommate, Ben Katz, took advantage of my trust. And, judging by the content of his post, my music library as well. Here's the song he sourced:


I suppose now is as good a time as ever to talk about gender neutral housing.

No, 'Ben' isn't one of those gender-ambiguous nicknames that college students sometimes acquire. My roommate is a man. This is possible because at Dartmouth, in some clusters at least, a number of rooms are specified as available to residents of any and all genders. As far as I am aware none of these rooms actually require residents to share bedrooms (the room that Ben and I have is a two-room double), but we do share a bathroom. Peacefully, I'll add. Occasional assaults upon my privacy notwithstanding, we're wonderfully compatible roomies.

Even though most gender neutral rooms go to same-sex roommate pairs, I'm really glad that Dartmouth recognizes the diverse needs of its student body in this way. And as The Dartmouth reported in 2007, the first year that this option was available, it's well-received. Who knows, maybe someday all housing will be categorized as "gender neutral" and it will be up to all students to determine which fit is best for them.

Scene Fifty-Four: Look at me! Look at me!

"Hands in the air like it's good to be/
alive, and I'm"

-a famous rapper

Friday, September 24, 2010

Scene Fifty-Three: "This above all:

..to thine own self be true."

 So quoth the Bard with Polonius's voice.

Some people fret endlessly over distribs, spending hours scanning the ORC and working in Word to ensure that they fulfill every. single. one. by Sophomore Summer. I do a bit of that, but ordinarily my trouble comes to naught when I ultimately shuffle my schedule per passion rather than prudence.

This term is no exception. I began with a swell-enough schedule: Linguistics 1 (10), Arabic 21 (11), and Studio Art 15 (or Drawing I, 2A).

But '-enough' really wasn't. On the first day of classes I opted to accompany my bosom friend Rebecca Drapkin to a class that she promised would please: Shakespeare I, taught by a Professor Brett Gamboa newly arrived to the faculty.

Have you ever enjoyed reading a syllabus? I mean really enjoyed it as an art form in and of itself? At noon I marched to McNutt to have the Registrar's Office rearrange my affairs, but everyone was on lunch break. So I bid an hour of my time and at 1pm was in the queue with several dozen other students seeking to get into (or out of) key classes. Despite the foreboding sign in the foyer, the process was painless and I was in-done-out in under five minutes.

Ought I have traded in a QDS for Shakespeare, you wonder? Well, it just so happens to be the W that I need.

"Now go we in content
To liberty, and not to banishment."


"Beyond This Place There Be Dragons"
© Copyright Callista Womick 2010

Friday, September 17, 2010

Scene Fifty-Two: '14s!

Last night I performed with the World Music Percussion Ensemble and volunteered at Night at The Hop. From pottery to performing to painting, The Hop is the hub of student artistic involvement at Dartmouth and last night was a flamboyant showcase of all that it has to offer. (There were also free shirts, cookies, and cider.)

Since arriving to campus early to lead my DOC Trip, I've had more than enough down time during pre-o and orientation to meet many members of the incoming class. I must say, they're pretty fabulous. I mean, just look at these stats. And that speaks nothing of their futures here. These '14s look to be a great lot; I can't wait to see them roll up their sleeves, strut their stuff, and color campus.

© Copyright Callista Womick 2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Scene Fifty-One: Tripz!!!

For DOC Trips '10 I co-led G902, Organic Farming, with the magnanimous Rob Marwanga '12. I can't divulge many of the niceties for confidentiality/kicks-and-giggles reasons, but here's the rough:
-We took the BFC* from Ledyard Canoe Club...
-to the Dartmouth Organic Farm...
-where we ate fresh Sungold tomatoes...
-and swam in the Connecticut River...
-and ate fresh, sweet, raw corn...
-and hiked.. a lot...
-and had the best game of Mafia of all time...
-and Trangia stir-fried fresh veggies to go with our couscous...
-and actually had running water...
-and a port-a-potty...
-although we ran out of toilet paper...
-just after we'd feasted on █████ ██████...
-and slightly before bussing to The Lodge.
Yeah, it was five days of epicness. Here are my trippees in our tarp shelter:

© Copyright Kiko Lam 2010

*Big Friendly Canoe

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Scene Fifty: The Greek System


© Callista Womick 2010


A sight I never expected to see on a campus other than Dartmouth's: a frat yard littered with Keystone Light cans.

That was the only aspect of NC State's Greek scene that seemed homey, though.

On most nights at Dartmouth there are several organized parties and numerous basements open for pong. I would feel comfortable walking into any of the houses and, because almost all of our parties are open, I could. At NC State (and elsewhere) this is not the case.

While visiting a friend in the lull between most other schools starting and heading north to lead a DOC trip, we checked out some of the parties. Peering through the windows of the first house we approached, I saw a sea of cookie-cutter girls speckled with the occasional preppy guy.

"Who do you know here?" the brother at the door asked. "If you don't know anybody here, I can't let you in."

We circled around to another cluster of houses, each echoing the same sentiment.

Love it or leave it, party or not, at least our Greek houses don't check social resumes at the door.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Scene Forty-Nine: Granite State of Mind

Only seven days until I tote my bags back north and my room is still a disaster area.

I didn't pack for my beach trip neatly and I have yet to unpack from TIP, so what would be my floor is currently a tangle of suitcases, unfolded clothing, hangers, books, art supplies, and miscellany. There's a path from my bed to the door. Sort of.

Rather than tackle this task, I'm stuck on the thought that in just a week's time the floor of the Berry Sports Center will look very similar: a tangle of items brought by '14s for their section G DOC trips as they pick and choose which weight to keep and which to relinquish until their return in five days time. I can't wait to meet them. I keep hearing that theirs is the best class ever.

Classes don't start until September 22, so I'll have nearly two weeks of veritable free time on campus- excellent. Lots of time to become familiar with the 1,187 new '14 faces and help them become familiar with Dartmouth.

North Carolina is great, but I'm itching to have hiking trails, boulders, and Robert Frost in my backyard again. I hope that soon enough the '14s will feel just as at home in New Hampshire. :)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Scene Forty-Eight: The Weather

When I finally have kids, they're going to walk to school. And they're not going to complain about it. Because if they do, I'll just tell them that when I was in the fourth grade I lived in New Hampshire. And did you know that in New Hampshire if you live within a mile of your school you have to walk there, no matter how deep the snow is? One day I had to climb out the kitchen window because we got six feet of snow overnight and couldn't open the front door.
-Randy, Morehead City, NC

This is the story that I got from a new acquaintance while vacationing with my family at Atlantic beach this week. I told him that last winter was very mild, hardly any snow at all.

"Well," he said, "there's always this year."

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Scene Forty-Seven: Though 'Round the Girdled Earth

Roam where you want to and Dartmouth'll be there. This is increasingly my experience, anyway. Imagine my surprise when the girl next to me introduced herself as a Dartmouth '11 during day one staff orientation for Duke's Talent Identification Program Summer Studies in Durham, NC.

We're enjoying reminiscing about parts of campus that we miss and introducing gems of Dartmouth culture to these kids. They don't really have access to the Internet, so RUA is out (that was totally a 10W thing, anyway, right?), but WAH! and Ninja are spreading like wildfire.


No actual TIPsters were filmed in the making of this clip. Actually, I just found this on Youtube, so I can't speak as to any involvement of TiPsters at all.

But wait, there's more: a girl on my hall knows Laura Cressman (one of the lovely '14s that I hosted over Dimensions) and a girl on the hall adjacent to mine is neighbors with a '12.

We. Are. Everywhere.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Scene Forty-Six: 10X

I rose at seven this morning and wove my way to Novack for a bagel in advance of my final final: Abnormal Psychology in Moore Filene. The exam is well finished and all my things are packed and stored. I sit in my bare room hoping that I haven't done anything to warrant repair charges and failing to forget that in two hours I will board the Dartmouth Coach and bid all of this farewell for the next three months.

Truthfully, not everything about Dartmouth is as I expected and not everything is wonderful.. but so many things were unexpected and so many things are wonder-filled. The odd-hour tolling of Baker's Bells. Collis baked goods. Percussion. Wishing on northern dandelions (they're different, I swear).

I feel like I'm leaving home, again.

But I'm returning to a place that for the past half-decade or so of my life was my home away from home: Duke University's TIP Summer Studies at East Campus.

From 2005-2007 I spent three weeks of summer among the most intelligent peers I'd yet encountered, under the pretense of experiencing the sort of rigorous academics that were likely lacking in our standard educations. In progression, I studied The Vampire Theme in Film and Literature, Abnormal Psychology, and Madness and the Mind (a philosophy-psychology mash-up that challenged us to define sanity, reality, and other such undefinable things).

TIPsters, both from within my classes and without, remain among my closest friends.
 
This summer I will be working as a Residential Counselor back on my home campus, Duke East. Given the large number of campuses that host the program and the high demand for RCship, I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to return to the campus that defined my TIP experience.

I'll be directly in charge of about twelve adolescent girls and less directly involved in molding the overall social atmosphere of the program. We RCs are responsible for planning evening activities for TIPsters- I need to come up with something really quirky. Suggestions welcome.

Because I am not on Dartmouth's campus and will not be as fountainous with anecdotes and observations thereabout, I'll be posting here less frequently until early September when I return to lead my DOC trip. In the mean time, I'm ever-available by blitz (at least until it goes under): cally [at] dartmouth [dot] edu.

© Callista Womick 2010

(I took the above photo from the top of Baker Bell Tower during one of the tours offered for First-Year Family weekend.)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Scene Forty-Five: Of Formal Wear, Plastic Spoons, and Going Home

It's that season: As thick as the air is with pollen are evening walkways thick with lavishly clad ladies and dashingly decked gentleman.

I got into the formal spirit on Friday with Phi Tau's backyard shebang. Flames, friends, and fresh air- shared with the finest company I've found at Dartmouth. And to dance! It isn't a party until people are breaking it down to Ke$ha and swaying to Cyndi Lauper.

Saturday night Amarna hosted a showing of The Room (2003) written, directed, produced by, and starring Tommy Wiseau. It's the sort of experience that should never be had alone. Very interactive. Think Rocky Horror shout-outs and a lot, a lot of spoons.

Afterward, walking back toward campus in the thick fog of midnight with (WAIT.. this was my last full week of classes?

I leave in a week?

As in, I won't be at Dartmouth anymore?! I don't feel good about that.)

Anyway: walking back with Rebecca: we encountered an abandoned button-up shirt. Striped. Quite nice. It is ours now and we shall share it. After it's laundered, of course.

...I'm sorry, I'm pretty hung-up on this leaving-campus-not-to-return-for-the-next-three-months thing.

I mean, I have friends whose D-Plans dictate that I won't see them again until Sophomore Summer. I have friends who have been off adventuring since Winter term that I won't see again until Fall, at best. I have unrealized plans and unexplored interests and unfinished business and it... all must wait until September?

Don't get me wrong. I'm super-excited about my summer plans. I have a great job. I'll get to see my family and friends from home. I'll get to enjoy some real heat. Not to mention Southern cooking... But it isn't here.

I rather wish I could stay.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Scene Forty-Four: Learn the Alma Mater

It can only improve your life.

Dear old Dartmouth, give a rouse
For the College on the hill,
For the Lone Pine above her,
And the loyal ones who love her.
Give a rouse, give a rouse, with a will!
For the sons of old Dartmouth,
For the daughters of Dartmouth.
Though ‘round the girdled Earth they roam,
Her spell on them remains.
They have the still North in their hearts,
The hill winds in their veins,
And the granite of New Hampshire
In their muscles and their brains.
And the granite of New Hampshire
In their muscles and their brains.

Dear old Dartmouth, set a watch,
Lest the old traditions fail.
Stand as sister stands by brother.
Dare a deed for the old mother.
Greet the world from the hills with a hail!
For the sons of old Dartmouth,
For the daughters of Dartmouth.
Around the world they keep for her
Their old undying faith.
They have the still North in their soul,
The hill winds in their breath,
And the granite of New Hampshire
Is made part of them ‘til death.
And the granite of New Hampshire
Is made part of them 'til death.




Props to the marching band for this rendition.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Scene Forty-Three: The River

Here's where I began my DOC Trips leader training at 8am this morning.

The Connecticut River
© Callista Womick 2010

Doesn't it just beg Ledyard Challenge?

Friday, May 21, 2010

Scene Forty-Two: Solitude

Sometimes the hubbub of campus gets overwhelming and I just want to throw my text books in a recycling bin, stuff some clothes in a knapsack, and bellow at the frats to tone down bass after 3am as I hike to the highway to thumb it out of here. Instead, I go to nature.

Small though it is, Hanover is urban enough to sometimes displace the knowledge that Dartmouth really is in the wilderness. Then I notice one of the metal markers for the AT along the sidewalk and it all comes back: I was promised a moose sighting on campus before I graduate.

I don't know about the moose, but within a stroll of the Green are countless places of wild beauty. I go to the golf course to stargaze. I go to Mink Brooke to hike. I go to the BEMA to scuttle around the ridges and throw twigs at unsuspecting passers-by. Anyway.

Today has been one of those overwhelming days. I must write a ten page term paper for my First-Year Seminar and record a video in Arabic with a partner from class this weekend, on top of a plethora of co-curricular and social engagements. And an all-day DOC Trips training extravaganza tomorrow.

My remedy? Cottage cheese and meditation on the lawn of Shattuck Observatory between a lunch engagement and a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest by The Displaced Theatre Company on the steps of Sanborn. Vox clamantis en deserto, "Om."

A view of Bartlett Tower up Observatory Drive
© Callista Womick 2010



Update 1 (21 May 2012): I came across a listing for pretty much every kind of art group that Dartmouth has to offer. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Scene Forty-One: World Music Percussion Ensemble

Tonight, the World Music Percussion Ensemble and I'll be playing our termly show in Spaulding Auditorium in the the Hop. This show is called Jump Up! Caribbean Sun Splash and will primarily include songs by Bob Marley.

I've been playing with the ensemble since Fall term, but prior to Dartmouth I had no experience playing percussion. No big! It's never too late to start something new. Twice weekly rehearsals have shaped me (and all the other brand-new-to-percussionists among us- there are quite a few) into some sort of decent. I attribute this to the exquisite leadership of our director, Hafiz Shabazz, and the group's veteran members.

Here's a promotional video made by one of our members, Si Jie Loo.


Yeah, we be jammin'. And the "learn new instruments on the day of the performance" bit is totally true.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Scene Forty: Green Key!

For some it starts tonight. For some it started Wednesday. Either way, Green Key's pong, parties, and alumni are upon us! For these few days, Dartmouth at large will engage in the last blast of revelry before term papers and final exams overtake us.

Last night was beautiful.

Among my adventures was SigEp's paint party, from which I have a stained shirt and sore feet. I love a dance floor with good music.

Professors have many different approaches to class on big weekends. Today, my psych prof held lecture as usual. My Arabic prof gave a test. My seminar prof canceled class altogether. Happily, I don't have drill on Fridays, but some students of other languages must wait until 6pm for their freedom.

Eh, the parties don't start until 11pm anyway.

Post-Paint Party
© Callista Womick 2010

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Scene Thirty-Nine: Regular Room Draw

The Dunyun reports that things went rather well.
Director of Housing Operations for the Office of Residential Life Rebecca Rothenberg was happy to report this morning that very few deaths were recorded after last night’s room draw. Rothenberg expressed satisfaction with the security measures put in place to minimize the casualty number. “I’d say it was a success, though I do want to stress that the final death tallies aren’t in yet,” she explains. “So I do want people to be prepared in case more bodies are recovered from the scene by the end of the day.” So far, Rothenberg assures us, no victims have been identified who didn’t “clearly have it coming.”

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Scene Thirty-Eight: Room Draw, EW Style

Other than great rooms, cool residents, Tessa now Josiah, Dean Pfister, Professor Brison, Sunny, Max, the White House, tickets to Hop shows, the snack bar, Brace Commons, and proximity to the gym, living in East Wheelock has an additional perk: one needn't stress about regular room draw!

A button proclaiming that "I Love Room Draw," three mini-boxes of nerds, and twenty minutes into EW's room draw I left with ownership of a gender-neutral double on Andres 2. Not too shabby.

I would have preferred a two-person suite, but a pair of girls grabbed the last one (despite the fact that female two-person suites remained) right before I claimed our room. I'm not bitter. Really. Give me this over what the poor souls of regular room draw will endure any day...

A scene from EW room draw, held in Collis Commonground.
© Callista Womick 2010

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Scene Thirty-Seven: First-Year Family Weekend

They began trickling in yesterday and now stream through doorways and hallways and walkways all over campus: our families! This is sorta like Dimensions, but with fewer Greek events hoping to entice the population influx.

My mom, dad, and sister, Maia, flew up from North Carolina today and've already had a taste of the sort of schedule that we keep at Dartmouth.

As soon as they stepped off the Dartmouth Coach I ushered them to Collis for a 'surprise' birthday party. We then rushed lunch from Collis Cafe before posing for the aerial PRIDE photoa on the Green. (Maia is holding a blue bag in the right leg of R, Mom is third from the top of I, and Dad is in brown at the center of D's curve.) Mom and Dad then went to drop their bags off and nap while Maia and I went to tie-dye at KDE. She and I wedged in a viewing of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog before I volunteered with FYF Weekend registration at Collis from 6-8pm. At 8pm I ran to meet them at Rollins for the Dartmouth Aires' reunion show. After the show they opted not to go to Family Fun at Collis. Really, who turns down a capella, dancing, billiards, and a Really Big Bingo Game? They wanted to sleep.

My day continued with Theta Delt's PRIDE dance party and ends with laundry and this.

Tomorrow brings a trip up Baker's bell tower, an ice cream social, A Midsummer Night's Dream presented by The Rude Mechanicals in the BEMA, and Spring Sing! at the Hop featuring the Cords, the Dodecs, and Sheba. Before seeing Young the Giant at Tri-Kap, of course.

Dear old Dartmouth...

© Lisa Green 2010
 
a Update 9 Aug. 2012: the D broke this link; will post another if I can find the photo elsewhere

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Scene Thirty-Six: Dimensions' End

..was AWESOME. The '14s are awesome. Fall term'll be awesome. Who's pumped?!

Dimensions officially started for me on Wednesday afternoon with the early arrival of Alex Yerukhimov and snowballed into the avalanche of Olivia Dahl, Alex Rowe, Laura Cressman, Alex Khitun, Roxy Aflalo, and Jovalee Thompson.

Yeah, the three Alexes thing was a little confusing. We managed, though.

Other than sharing close quarters in what appeared to be a spacious East Wheelock suite until filled with seven bodies and their possessions, some highlights from our weekend include:
I'm stoked to share campus with this terrific group of people fall term (*poke wink nudge:* if any one o' ya has yet to make it official, remember, "Don't ask, tell.").

But now that Dimensions is over, what? Next stop...



DOC Trips!!!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Scene Thirty-Five: Dimensions' Midst

Here's a shout-out from the Dartmouth Dodecaphonics to the class of 2014:




And something a little more personal, from the Dartmouth Aires to Alex Khitun in East Wheelock's Brace Commons:




We're having a blast.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Scene Thirty-Four: DIMENSIONS!!!

Early Decision or Regular Decision, hopefully you'll be on campus with us this weekend. I know you're stoked to meet your fellow '14s and maybe an upperclassman or two. You're already packed, aren't you?

I'm trying to bring some sort of order to my room, 'cause this weekend I will have the pleasure of hosting the ravishingly beautiful, passionately intelligent, knee-jerkingly comical Laura Cressman '14; the dashingly handsome, profoundly ponderous, swashbuckling Alex Rowe '14; the incisively sarcastic, philosophically profound, gratuitously good-looking Alex Yerukhimov '14; and the star of the bunch: striking like the Big Dipper, clever as Obama, and all-around stunning Olivia Dahl '14.

Look 'em up, they're fabulous people.

And, if you're unlucky enough to not be joining us for Dimensions, you can still check it out online at tomorrow's live broadcast.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Scene Thirty-Three: GYT

Get Yourself Tested.
Get Yourself Talking.

There's an STD screening event in Collis Commonground today, and that's its slogan.

Screening event? That is, we fill out a short questionnaire about our sexual history and meet privately behind velvet curtains with someone from Dick's House to determine whether or not we should get an appointment for a free STD test.

Pretty informal, very efficient.

While we waited (there was quite a line- we at Dartmouth care about our health, after all) we could sample different flavored lubes, practice putting condoms on dildos, and even pocket an assortment of free condoms for later use.

Oh, and everyone who participates gets a free T-shirt.

Thanks, Sexperts!

© Callista Womick 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Scene Thirty-Two: SEIU Vigil on the Green

From noon today onward, members of the SEIU Local 560 are holding a 24-hour vigil on the Green for laid-off employees. This coincides with a series of teach-ins being held around campus by Dartmouth Students Stand with Staff to inform members of the Dartmouth community about what is and isn't being done in the budget cut/lay-off process.

More than 130 chairs form a circle on the Hanover Inn corner of the Green.

Each represents a position that was either a) not refilled when vacated, or b) eliminated during layoffs. Each represents an individual.

It is pretty chilly tonight. Chilly enough to make me shiver on my way to Topside, anyway. I went for Kashi, but I left with brownie mix. Fifty minutes after mixing oil and eggs and candy corn into the chocolately powder, I again braved the New England night to take my warm pan of sweets to the crowd occupying the Green.

I can't give them their jobs back, but I can thank them for not backing down.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Scene Thirty-One: The Best-Laid Plans...

A few days ago I posted that my courses for this term are Arabic 3, Biology 7 (my First-Year Seminar), and Spanish 9. This is no longer the case.

For several reasons, I chose to drop Spanish 9 and add Psychology 24 (Abnormal Psychology).

Woah! 1/10 of the term has already passed? Is that okay?

Dartmouth allows us to add/drop courses more or less at leisure during the first five days of term and to add/drop courses with professors' permission during the second five days. Luckily, I was able to convince both Professor Jan Scheiner (of Psych 24) and Professor Catherine Cramer (the department head) to allow me the opportunity to switch in.

Even more fortuitous, I was able to convince Professor Cramer to exempt me from the Psychology 1 prerequisite on the basis of an AP Psychology course (even though I didn't take the AP Exam) and two psychology-based classes taken at Duke University's TIP Summer Studies.

Moral 1: You're not bound to your original class schedule.
Moral 2: Ask for prerequisite exemptions!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Scene Thirty: Happy Easter

Yesterday Dartmouth engaged in a campus-wide Easter egg hunt courtesy of Christian Impact.

On window sills, beneath bushes, and strewn haphazardly in green areas: hundreds (thousands?) of colorful eggs filled with sweets! Some of my prizes were Butterfinger chocolate eggs and Swedish Fish, but I also have a nice stash of Jolly Ranchers, gums, and mini candy bars.

In other news, the Easter Bunny is very, very tired

My bunny, Benjamin Hazel
© Callista Womick 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

Scene Twenty-Nine: Spring Commences!

Academically, at least. From Banner:

Congratulations! Callista R. Womick has successfully checked in for Spring Term 2010.

With a 9L, a 10, and an 11 I am pleased with this term's schedule. But, alas, Arabic 3 still requires drill- one of the only higher-level language classes that does so. I refuse to take it at 5pm, so I'll probably be rising for 7:45am drill when it begins in a week or so. Deep sigh.

In addition to curricular classes I hope to take Zumba® for PE credit. I originally planned on taking belly dancing, but at $32 Zumba® fits more neatly into my budget for this term. Sign-up for PE classes begins tomorrow, and its first-come, first-served.

My backup plan, in the unfortunate case that I don't get to join the party, is to help Habitat For Humanity for PE credit. They're always blitzing out for drivers, so my driver certification is golden.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Scene Twenty-Eight: From Sunburns to Snowdrifts

At 3am we stumbled from Immokalee Friendship House cots to our rental cars and by 1pm we were peering through van windows at the Connecticut River. After ten days enjoying Florida's muggy Spring, New Hampshire's gray skies and residual snow banks offend the senses.

At least the Green is, well, green. If only this misty-cold rain will blow off and the temperature will take its cue from the rest of the country, we might have some real spring here yet.

Season or not, though, the new term begins on Monday. I will be taking Arabic 3, Spanish 9, and Biology 7.

The latter is my required Freshman Seminar, titled "Biotechnology for Global Health Needs." I no longer plan on pursuing the pre-health track during undergrad, but I retain my interest in medicine and health care. Also.. this course fulfills my TAS distributive requirement. Most other courses that would do so are either in the Engineering department or require copious amounts of math, both of which are prohibitively daunting for me.

Now, only to tackle my SCI/SLAs and QDS...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Scene Twenty-Seven: Leaving on a Jet Plane

In an hour I will be joining my fellow ASBers at C&G to depart for my ASB in Immokalee, FL. For the duration of spring break, the next 10 days, we'll be staying in a homeless shelter and working with local community groups. Our chief partner is the CIW.

While there, I will be blogging for the Tucker Foundation at OurDartmouth. Until March 27, find me there!

..also, when I return I'll be backdating about six posts that are currently in their infancies. That is why this post does not numerically follow the one preceding it. Yet.

*** Update 1 (10 Aug. 2012): Apparently the OurDartmouth archives no longer go back far enough to show my posts from Immokalee. Boo.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Scene Twenty-Six: Finals

AAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Gays! Drugs! Global warming! Pirates!





*** Update 1 (16 March 2010): Finals studying does funny things to a person.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Scene Twenty-Five: Be What?

The other Dartmouth Sevena:

1: Rage.
2: Be exceptionally personable.
3: Don't try to stand out in class.
       3.5: Study anyway. In secret.
4: Don't try to stand out in fashion.
       4.5: Own a black Northface.
5: Be liberal.
       5.5: Abandon any and all true, specific convictions.
6: Be happy.
       6.5: Go to Dick's House for counseling anyway.
7: Have a sweet internship. Or three.

At Dartmouth there's a lot of talk of internships. Do something productive with your off-terms make it bigger-and-better-and-more-prestigious-and-higher-paying-and-in-a-cooler-location-and-with-less-generic-work-than-all-of-your-peers. So you can brag about it when you come back to campus. And put it on your resume. And so on.

We were selected because we were varied, so why do so many of us desperately try to genericize once we arrive on campus? Our wardrobes become muted. Our personalities become muted. You get the idea.

But then, so many of us don't fall victim to this groupthink. A pair of lemon yellow galoshes, a foray into classical Mexican dancing, and a speech given from the steps Robo remind me that, despite it all, plenty of us stay quite ourselves.

This summer I'll be working as a camp counselor, kthanxbye.


aAdapted from Daniel O'Brien's article Hello, My Name is Dartmouth in the September 24, 2006 edition of The Dartmouth Independent.
bThese seven shouldn't be taken any more seriously than the other seven. I'm sorry that that needed to be clarified.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Scene Twenty-Four: Farmville

If you play Zynga's Farmville (or any of Zynga's games, really), then you know how addicting it is.

Until recently, I was one of those poor saps who set cell phone timers to alert me when crops were ready to harvest. Obviously, I had a problem.

No, really. It was a problem. I was sinking hours and hours of my life into what? A virtual farm. (I feel so lame saying it.) Seriously, though, I'm confidant that this game is single-handedly responsible for reducing my GPA by at least 0.2.

About a year ago, when the high-school senior workload was weighing on me, I un-added the app.

Obviously, that strategy didn't endure; so this time I did something even more prohibitive: I constructed! The app is still added, but it is virtually useless as a procrastination tool. I paved paradise and put up a parking lot, so to speak...:









Ok, ok. I still indulge in new decorations when they're released, but at least I'm no longer determined to master every crop, right?

On the other hand, the campus craze Robot Unicorn Attack is taking me for a ride... Open your eyes!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Scene Twenty-Three: {()}



Vagina.


Even more so than foco or froyo, this is the word of the week. From the performances of The Vagina Monologues to this video advertising them:


 ...everyone is thinking about vaginas.

As part of the VDay celebrations, I participated in a self defense workshop led by S&S officer Sergeant Rebel Roberts. We learned what puts us more at risk for assault or unwanted interactions (leaving personal items unguarded, approaching the cars of strangers, and partying alone) and what can make us safer (taking note of people we pass on the street, not wearing disabling shoes, and being willing to shout NO!).

Props to Dartmouth for organizing an event like this to educate and empower its women.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Scene Twenty-Two: Eating Disorder Awareness Week

I see her walking across the Green most days, clutching her coat against the lingering New England winter. I see him most days, too, racing through Baker to reach his 10A on time. They're any Dartmouth student, and they have eating disorders.

Sometimes an eating disorder is easy enough to spot. The avid gym-goer, the food measurer, the "I ate before I came." Others, though, aren't as evident. This year's Eating Disorder Awareness Week encouraged us to think about those people we wouldn't ordinarily expect to have an eating disorder. You know, everyone that isn't a skinny white girl.

In collaboration with all of campus, Collis displayed jeans of all sizes to reinforce that eating disorders can happen to people of all shapes.

Students had the opportunity to participate in a private screening for risk factors in Collis Commonground one day, for which every participant was rewarded with a comfy pair of socks tagged in Dartmouth-Green letters: "Every Body is Beautiful."

The week also included a discussion about how to approach a friend about whom you have concerns and how to recognize less-familiar signs that someone may have unhealthy eating or exercise habits.

Dartmouth's go-to resource for eating disorder concerns are the Eating Disorder Peer Advisers. EDPAs are fellow students trained in providing advice and support; the idea is that because they're our peers they're more accessible and less intimidating than the people at Dick's House.

While one week of serious publicity and serious discussion comes nowhere near remedying the plague of eating disorders that afflict Dartmouth students, I want to think that some of my peers uncomfortable in their own skin saw the big banners assuring that "Every Body is Beautiful" and maybe, just maybe, started to believe it.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Scene Twenty-One: Chillin' With the Profs

I step from New Hampshire's resurgent winter into the warm quiet of Sanborn. A handful of students sit in pools of light at the heavy wooden tables, pouring over texts for their winding-down classes. Through the paned-glass door that leads to the offices of English professors I hear the low rumble of classmates in conference.





As part of my Writing 5 with Professor Crumbine, I am required to attend conferences to discuss recently submitted assignments. Along with three or four other students from either her 10A or 2A, I slip into one of the round-backed wooden chairs that fill her library-office and, sentence-by-sentence, review the structure and content of my papers. Professor Crumbine remains largely silent, allowing her students to exercise their burgeoning propensities for criticism and compliment.
At Dartmouth, professors are marvelously available. From office hours to scheduled meetings to impromptu conversations after class, the opportunities to interact are virtually endless. But, to sweeten the deal, Dartmouth provides an added incentive for students to hang with profs. Once a term, each student has the opportunity to receive a stipend to take a professor to lunch at the Hanover Inn. I've not yet done so myself.. but I will.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Scene Twenty: Lullaby...

I slosh across the green from Arabic drill to my Religion I lecture, drowsy after a late night of revising papers for Writing 5. As I near the melting coliseum at the center, Baker's bells start singing, "Lullaby, and goodnight-"





The bells play songs at three specific times during the day, but students can also blitz requests for off-hour renditions. "Happy Birthday," "Blackbird," "Hey Jude," and "Hi Ho Hi Ho" are the most popular this term, but the list of possibilities is much longer. As a fall-term first-year, "Hell's Bells" was my introduction to the unorthodox chimes. Unfortunately, the only recordings of the bells that I can find are more traditional. Guess you'll have to visit campus to hear the rest.

Oh, and I had no trouble staying awake in my Religion lecture. With Professors Ackerman and MacEvitt, it is the sort of class in which, regardless how sleep-deprived I am, I never feel drowsy.

Image Source: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/bakerberry/general/bells.html

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Scene Nineteen: Filmna bi-Antom - Our Movie for You!

Two classmates and I were to make a movie set either in a restaurant or in a supermarket, in Arabic. This is what came of it.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Scene Eighteen: Thanksgiving, revisited

Have you noticed a trend? With Winter term winding down and finals-papers-readings-homework-midterms-(midterms?!) piling up, I haven't much time to devote to anything other than the essentials. School. Food. Sleep. I dearly want to paint a picture of Dartmouth for you with words, but in this case I think my silence does just as well. Perhaps it does better.
Here are some photographs of the Thanksgiving dinner that I enjoyed at Phi Tau and some of the wonderful people with whom I enjoyed it. Yum!









All photographs © 2009 Kelsey Harris