Many members of the Class of 2009 have made remarkable achievements while at the College.
The following four seniors have had particularly unique experiences at Dartmouth.
Bill Lundin
After learning to speak Chinese fluently at Dartmouth, Bill Lundin '09 used this skill to intern at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and to work with the United States Olympic Committee in the city during the 2008 Summer Games.
Lundin, who also did work as a Chinese translator, was linked to the internship by a Dartmouth alumnus, and was joined in his work by four other Dartmouth students.
"I was involved with event planning for the main events," Lundin said. "Some of the events included pretty high-level people, like the mayor of Chicago and [former U.S. President George H.W.] Bush."
As an Asian and Middle Eastern studies major who focuses his studies on East Asia, Lundin had also participated in the Foreign Study Program in Beijing before working at the U.S. embassy in the city.
"These were very much defining moments of my Dartmouth career," Lundin said. "I met [former] President Carter during my internship in the state department. The FSP was a valuable experience in that it really developed my love of Chinese."
Lundin credits the funding he received from the Rockefeller Center, The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and the Provost's Office for providing him with the opportunities to travel.
"I've received an unbelievable amount of financial aid and moral support from the College," he said. "Dartmouth really helps build the capacity in students to take advantage of all the opportunities which are available."
During his four years at Dartmouth, Lundin worked as an undergraduate advisor as well as a drill instructor for French and Chinese. He was also an active member of Mock Trial Society, serving as the treasurer his senior year.
After graduation, Lundin will work for Teach for America in Minneapolis for two years. After completing the program, he is "strongly contemplating" law school or graduate school in public policy, he said.
"International travel is something that I regard with a great deal of importance," Lundin said. "I want to be able to live abroad, further my passion for language and affect substantive social change through my interaction with other cultures."
Despite his off-campus experiences, Lundin said that he was most proud of developing friendships with his fellow Dartmouth students.
"I'm most proud of having a set of valuable lifetime friendships that I can rely upon in just about any tough situation or challenge," he said.Laura Richardson
In her time at Dartmouth, Laura Richardson '09 a member of "Lodj Croo," an avid fan of streaking, and a member of an a cappella group has certainly soaked up the Dartmouth lifestyle.
Richardson, a psychology and Italian double major who will attend the University of Virginia Law School in the fall, served as president of both Mentors Against Violence and the "Sigma Delta sorority streaking club" during her time at Dartmouth. She is also a member of the Decibelles a cappella group.
All of these experiences have helped to shape her time at Dartmouth, Richardson said.
"Dartmouth culture more than anything has made me more open to a lot of experiences and more willing to say yes' to things," Richardson said. "Dartmouth is the epitome of the work hard, play hard' culture. I don't have a perfect GPA, but I do work hard."
Richardson said that her experiences on Lodj Croo in September 2008, dressing in flair, singing, and welcoming freshmen from Dartmouth Outing Club first-year trips to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, was the "culmination" of her Dartmouth experience.
"Dartmouth has been home and it will always be home," she said. "But it was great to meet the freshmen, and know I was leaving Dartmouth in awesome hands."
Richardson viewed her role as the president of Mentors Against Violence as a way for her to impact gender relations on campus, she said.
"Coming to a school where there's a definite dichotomy of what it means to be a male and what it means to be a female on campus, it seemed like an interesting thing to get involved with," Richardson said.
Joining the female a cappella group, the Decibelles, her freshman fall helped Richardson to adjust to campus and establish friendships, she said.
"[The Decibelles] have sustained me over the past four years," Richardson said. "It's great to see how that group has evolved over the past four years, and how they've helped me to change and evolve."
Richardson said her greatest accomplishment at Dartmouth has been the effect she has had on the other students she has met during her four years.
"Being able to graduate and know that I'm leaving behind 10 or 15 underclassmen who I've made such strong connections with will stick with me forever," Richardson said. "They have influenced me just as much as I've influenced them."
Richardson said she would encourage other students to get involved in different activities early on in their Dartmouth careers.
"I just wish I had not thought so much about constructing my personality and just gone out for things and let that inform who I was," she said.
Andrew Seidman
Andrew Seidman '09 began playing poker in high school to bring his friends together, but his interest in the game soon grew to become a passion. With three years of professional poker under his belt, Seidman is also the inventor of the Baluga poker theory, has written an eBook on poker whose two volumes sell for a total of $949, and has made $312,000 by playing online games and giving lessons in the past year.
Seidman has created his own web site balugapoker.com and also contributes to other poker web sites to promote his tutorial videos, which help explain complicated poker ideas in simpler terms. Both the Baluga poker theory and Seidman's eBook focus on making poker concepts more accessible and comprehensive.
A member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and a former member of the football team, Seidman said that playing poker has enriched his Dartmouth experience.
"I never do poker if there's anything else to do," Seidman said. "I'm way more concerned about having a good and fulfilling life than making money at this point."
While Seidman said he was raised to be very careful with money, his career as a poker player has made him view it as little more than numbers.
"I lost $40,000 two days ago," Seidman said. "It sucked. But what's really ridiculous is that it's like the third time it's happened."
Seidman has used his winnings to travel across Europe from Spain to Germany, and has visited Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia. He also participated on the Asian and Middles Eastern studies Foreign Studies Program in Fez, Morocco as an AMES major.
After graduation, Seidman, who changed his major seven times over his four years at Dartmouth, plans to continue to travel and hopes to get involved in real estate ventures, particularly in California.
"I can do my job from anywhere in the world," Seidman said. "In theory, I would just cruise maybe come back to Dartmouth for a bit, go to South America for a bit."
Looking back on his four years at Dartmouth, Seidman said he would have liked to have participated more in different campus activities while at the College.
"I wish that I would have gone to the Skiway more, done more hikes, done more things," he said.
Alessandra Necamp
Student Director of the Tucker Foundation Alessandra Necamp '09 plans to use the lessons she learned about service and leadership while at Dartmouth to inform her future work in conflict resolution, human rights and women's rights issues.
Necamp's position at Tucker made her responsible for overseeing all Tucker programs.
Necamp has focused on establishing links between Greek houses and Tucker, and said she worked to involve entire houses in projects, instead of just individuals within houses.
She has also volunteered for America Reads and the winter Special Olympics while at Dartmouth.
Necamp said that she was initially unsure about her ability to take on such an important role, but has learned how to effectively allocate tasks to those most capable, which has helped her to succeed.
Necamp said she would like to pursue a career in international relations, and that the skills she has acquired to facilitate collaboration between groups will help her to unite various organizations on a broader scale.
"Being a leader is not just about seeking out resources, it is about supporting these resources," Necamp said.
Looking back on her own service experiences, Necamp added that she is most proud of her ability to remain optimistic, citing a difficult experience she had during an off-term spent in Kibera, Kenya, one of the largest slums in Africa.
In this unsafe environment, Necamp said that she often depended on Kenyan women for protection. Her realization of the women's strength assured her of the potential women have to make a difference.
"I think that part of the way we can solve some of the biggest global issues is through empowering women," Necamp said. "Women are going to be the ones that save the world if we can support them."
Necamp said that she is concerned with gender segregation at the College, which she said is especially apparent in Food Court where men and women often eat separately.
"I have noticed that friendships [between men and women] do not happen often," she said. "We can only relate to each other in a sexualized way and that limits it so much."
Necamp said she would encourage both genders to voice their opinions, as she has tried to do during her time at the College.
"Always have a big mouth," she said. "You have to believe in the legitimacy of your thoughts. Never think you are asking for too much. Trust in your feelings. Believe in your cause and believe that you can do it."
