Today’s blog post will be answering four questions:
- “How can I access accommodations (extra time, etc.)?”
- “How can I get mental health care at Dartmouth?”
- “Do you have tips on how to get involved on campus, networking, and how to take advantage of resources?”
- “What are the best scholastic resources at Dartmouth?”
Accommodations
To learn about accessing accommodations, please visit the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) website. I would first look at their “Getting Started” page. Note that it takes approximately one week for SAS to contact you after you put in a request, so do it as early as possible.
Mental Health Care
In Hanover, there are many free resources to help you take care of your mental health.
If you need to vent with a peer, Peer Support is a good option, which you can access (now, if you have a dartmouth email and zoom account) by dropping into their Zoom room from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. EST every day.
The College Chaplain at the Tucker Center offers free pastoral counseling to help you, whether you’re religious or secular. The Chaplain provides confidential counseling and is not obligated to share, which means she is not obligated to share what you tell her or make reports to the Title IX office if you disclose an instance of sexual assault. She can help with crisis response, issues such as loss of a loved one, etc. You can contact her to make an appointment at 603-646-3780.
For support in dealing with sexual assault and gender-based violence, you should contact WISE at 603-448-5922. There are on campus resources for survivors of sexual assault and gender-based violence, but WISE are the experts of the Upper Valley, and there is a WISE advocate on campus. If you are in a situation in which you need support, such as moving dorms or issuing a no contact order, the Title IX Office can help you, should you choose to make a Title IX report. Their phone number is 603-646-0922.
On their website, the Counseling Center has listed a few resources that can help you in a crisis situation. You should save the phone number for Safety & Security (S&S) safe rides, which are when the S&S officers come to your location and take you home if you feel unsafe walking home, regardless of the reason: 603-646-4000. You can call any time.
If you wish to make a counseling appointment with the Counseling Center, you can call them at 603-464-9442.
These are just some of the resources available to you, but what you do with this information is your choice. Our campus culture has become more open to discussions of mental health in recent years, so don’t hesitate to talk to friends and ask an upperclassman or a mentor about mental health on campus. Talking to students with similar problems can help you figure out what might be the best option for you.
Lastly, it is important to manage your mental health at Dartmouth on a personal level. Some ways that I do this are by establishing a routine at the beginning of the term (sleeping, eating, & exercise times). I check in with myself to notice changes in mood, sleep or eating habits, pastimes, etc. If I notice a change that I don’t particularly desire, I will find the cause of it and act accordingly to fix it. Try to make genuine friends when you get here because connecting with others is important for mental health.
Campus Involvement, Networking, Taking Advantage of Resources
One of the best things you can do to get involved and network is join clubs and mentorship programs. This is a great way to meet upperclassmen and make new friends. It is best to go into clubs with the mindset of making friends and less with the mindset of networking, so connections won’t feel forced.
For business-related networking, the CPD has a guide on how to do it! Click the hyperlink to read more. It covers different kinds of networking, how to write networking messages on LinkedIn, how to follow up, etc. You don’t have to follow up with everyone, but if you felt a solid connection with someone, you should. You should include something you talked about when you follow up. For example, if someone tells you that you should read xyz book, offer your thoughts on the book after reading it.
If you don’t have an obvious follow up topic, but you enjoyed talking with someone, you can update them on your career progress and wish them happy holidays the next time that the holidays come around. These are just examples! Networking is what you want it to be, so if you don’t want to send these messages, there is no need to.
To take advantage of resources, you need to know what exists. The ASC instagram account @dartmouthasc has many posts about campus resources, which you should check out! After that, you can determine what you might want to utilize. If you ever need help but don’t know where to go, you should check in with your undergraduate dean and ask them which resource on campus can help you.
The best way to take advantage of resources is to make the time and use them. Schedule an appointment with an academic coach to build your time management skills, so you’ll have time to make those appointments with the CPD or your undergraduate dean!
Scholastic Resources at Dartmouth
At the ASC, we’re particularly partial to our freshman fall PE course called Learning@Dartmouth, in which you’ll learn all about Dartmouth’s incredible academic resources! We also offer group tutoring for introductory courses and academic coaching for individualized guidance toward better study habits and figuring out what you want to study.
For information on more campus resources, check out our website, where we have listed other academic resources!