Being a Dartmouth student is always challenging, and these days more than ever we could all use some guidance. This week, Mirror is excited to introduce “Dear Dartie,” an anonymous advice column that will run each Wednesday and respond to questions submitted anonymously by Dartmouth students.
Dartie, whose name was inspired by both the fine institution she attends and her affinity for parties in the daytime, is eager to help you navigate life at the College. Trying to connect with professors virtually? Juggling crushes and friendships from afar? Sorting through professional or academic opportunities? She can help. Submit your individual, interpersonal, romantic, platonic, academic, professional, serious and silly questions using this form, and Dartie will do her best to offer you advice.
Dartie is not a mental health professional. Please direct any highly sensitive questions to experts or licensed care providers. For examples of the types of questions Dartie can answer, see below. Read Dartie’s column next week to see her answers to these questions and others submitted by students — maybe you!
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS HERE!
Dear Dartie,
I’m a ’23, and after a whole year away from Dartmouth, I’m super excited for the upcoming summer on campus. I know sophomore summer is supposed to be this amazing term, but because I’ve really only had two normal terms on campus, I feel like I’m not aware of many of the sophomore summer staples. What are some of the typical bucket list items? Are there any hidden gems I can’t miss?
Thanks!
Summer Lovin’
Dear Dartie,
In the last weeks of the winter term before the pandemic began, I became closer friends with one of my former acquaintances. We had kind of a flirty, playful relationship, but we never hung out outside of our larger group of friends. I was hoping it would turn into something more last spring, but of course, COVID-19 hit and we both went home. We’ve texted sporadically throughout the pandemic, and our group of friends met up a couple of times. I’m definitely still interested. We’re both back on campus now, and I want to try to move things forward, but I feel like it’s weird to dive into the deep end after a year spent mostly apart, especially because even before the pandemic we didn’t hang out individually. How should I approach the situation? What’s something casual we might be able to do together?
Let me know what you think,
Ready to Mingle
Dear Dartie,
During my freshman year I decided to major in computer science, but after almost two years of taking CS courses, I’ve realized that I’m just not that good at it. I enjoy the material in most of my classes, but I get below the median grade in many of them. My GPA isn’t the most important thing to me, but it doesn’t feel great to know I’m doing worse than everyone else, and it makes me worried for how I might fare when I’m competing against my peers for jobs. I’ve been trying to work harder in classes and do better, but somehow it just usually doesn’t pan out. I’m considering dropping my CS major, but I can’t decide if I should. I don’t know what else I’d study, and I’ve already told all my friends that this is my plan. Should I change paths?
Best,
Crushed by Computer Science
Dear Dartie,
I’m back on campus this spring, but I’ve been living at home since the pandemic began and haven’t seen any of my Dartmouth friends in that time. We’ve all been kind of scattered throughout the country, and though we’ve tried to keep in touch, I feel like our friendships have really suffered these past few months. So far during quarantine, none of them have reached out to me. I want to try to get together safely after the quarantine period is over, but I don’t know if others have been in touch these past few days and just haven’t included me in group chats, or if I’ll be starting from scratch in getting the gang back together. How can I reach out without painting myself as an outsider? How should I go about rebuilding these bonds?
Sincerely,
Lonely in a COVID-19 World
