Happy summer, everyone! I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. With warm weather and the promise of vaccinations on the horizon, there’s lots to smile about. In this column I reflected on the July-August of our Sophomore Summer—lazy afternoons spent by the river, escaping the Hanover humidity with a smoothie on the Collis patio, and many, many Dartboard emails. Accordingly, the theme of this column is direction. There is a cliché that Dartmouth pushes students to pursue certain career paths, so I asked some of our classmates how they found their ways onto roads less taken. Interestingly, while classmates discovered their directions at different points in their Dartmouth education, each noted unique academic experiences as key influences in the post-college direction.

Alex Sasse always knew she wanted to study government in college. At Dartmouth she narrowed her focus to foreign policy and international human rights. She found a direct route to these subjects through classes on human rights in Latin America, a study abroad in Argentina, and a summer internship at the U.S. Agency for International Development—all of which helped her to realize her desire to enter the field through law school. She took a year after graduation to study for the LSAT and work at Love at First Bite Bakery (the “best cupcake shop in Berkeley, California”). While cupcake decorating is not “the most direct route” to a human rights law career, it allows her to live in “the most beautiful place on earth” and sculpt fondant Ferraris, Yodas, sloths, and more for custom cakes on a daily basis! She will be attending law school next year.

Lynette Long currently works jointly for National Geographic and the World Bank BioCarbon Fund to create social impact and enable sustainable development. She noted that her experience on the environmental studies foreign study program largely directed her career: “Because we collaborated with local environmental nonprofits and research institutes to perform fieldwork and deliver management recommendations, I felt in touch with and responsible for the practical implications of my academic outputs for the first time.”

Anna Whitney hasspent this year teaching at the Horace Mann School in New York City, teaching environmental science to eighth-graders (mostly) and leading team-building activities in the Bronx. Anna notes her path changed senior year—while she was initially set on returning to consulting, she found this opportunity right before the pandemic began and “jumped on it!” She credits Dartmouth for preparing her for the unique aspects of pandemic-era teaching, such as instructing in outdoor classrooms. Anna notes she “draws inspiration from professors who often brought their classes into the community and the outdoors—on the environmental studies foreign study program, in social impact practicums, and beyond!” Anna is looking forward to applying “everything I’ve learned during this unprecedented year as I shift to teaching fourth grade at the Brunswick School next year and, I hope, pursue a master’s in education.”

Finally, it wouldn’t be Class Notes without some updates from our classmates. Elizabeth Nguyen celebrated her 23rd birthday outdoors in San Francisco with Alex Sasse, Jenna Salvay, and some socially distant pong. Iliana Godoy says aloha from Las Vegas! She recently started working at Droisys Inc., an amazing Asian American and Pacific Islander technology company, where she is learning from gaming tech industry leaders. She’s also been meeting up with fellow ’20 Elizabeth Simms as she prepares to leave for New England for her Ph.D. program at Brandeis University. Emma Guo booked a trip for two to Bali in 2022 and she’s recruited Alexandria Chen to join her. Hugs.

—Katie Goldstein, 263 W Santa Inez, Hillsborough, CA 94010; katie.e.goldstein.20@dartmouth.edu