One writer in Mirror this week is writing about classes that you take just for fun, and that got me thinking. I’m an English major, so most of my classes are fun by default. Go me!
At the end of every term comes the inevitable goodbye to classes. Sometimes it’s a bitter goodbye. Sometimes sweet. Sometimes it’s less of a goodbye and more of a “That was terrible. See you never.” This term, things are different.
Every time I try to pull my dark green blind down in my Topliff dorm, it whooshes back up. I’ve been keeping it in place with a 1,000-page copy of “The Power Broker” by Robert A. Caro. I read it to prepare for GOVT 86.55: “Building Big Things: Politics of Infrastructure.” Nothing says “college student” like propping up your window shade with a biography of Robert Moses. Nerd!
This was supposed to be the term I drifted away from the government department. I dropped the major entirely last term; I’m barely clinging to a minor. There’s no practical reason for me to be in an upper-level seminar about infrastructure policy.
Yet it’s been among my favorite classes at Dartmouth. Our transportation unit was two weeks long, but I was wishing it was 10 because of how much I enjoyed discussing the D.C. and New York City subway systems, or California’s failed high speed rail system.
I love CRWT 40.15: “Tell me a Story: Introduction to Nonfiction Radio and Podcasting” because I loved driving around and reporting on the changing landscape of general stores in the Upper Valley.
I enjoy FILM 33: “Writing for the Screen I,” even if Final Draft is a horribly outdated software and my T.V. pilot reads like an HBO Max original.
This is one of those rare terms where I’ll genuinely miss all of my classes. So, this is a goodbye I’m not ready for. Yet, here we are. I used to have a bad habit of choosing classes based on what time they’re offered. But I’m done with that mindset. No more strategic 10s and avoiding 2As. Watch out, 9L. I’m coming for you.
This week in Mirror, one staffer writes about particularly interesting classes. Another looks at the growing trend of “going analog.” One attempts a ChatGPT detox. Another reflects on campus fashion trends, unpacking cultural hegemony on campus. And Eli and I return to our Freak of the Week column, where we ponder what to do when your relationship is in a rut.
I’m not quite done with my classes just yet, so stay tuned: Next Editor’s Note will likely be in podcast format.
