Dear Readers,
A feeling of relief washed over me as I rounded the corner near the entrance of King Arthur Flour Cafe, scurried into the Baker Library and found my stride walking down the long corridor. I glanced at my watch: 9:57 AM. Within eyeshot of the Dr. Seuss room, I smiled. The night before Mr. Michael Choukas Jr. had sweetly informed me that he would be in a blue parka and Dartmouth hockey cap, “just in case another 89-year old man happens to be in the Dartmouth library at around 10:00 AM.” I had seen the blue parka thrown on the desk through the door window. As I peeked into the room, sure enough, I found Mr. Choukas Jr. observing the display cases in the Dr. Seuss room. The room, completed in 2007, was a very new addition to the library he remembered. His bright blue eyes lit up the small, already very whimsical room. I found myself a little flustered in this moment. I had just ran out of my Sociological Classics (Sociology 15) class to meet a true Dartmouth “classic” in the flesh, a class of 1951 Dartmouth alum. A hockey player and an active fraternity brother in his hey-day, Mr. Choukas Jr. was also a devoted member of the sociology department during his time at Dartmouth. I started the conversation with a high-level description of who I was, explaining my project, and earnestly commenting that I was very honored to have the chance to speak to him. In retrospect, as my first interview, I realized I had talked too much. I took a moment to get the recorder ready, took a deep breath, and dove in with my first question “So, let’s start from square one… what was it like being a sociology major at Dartmouth for you?”
I guess my story doesn’t really begin there though. To truly introduce this project to you all, I have to backtrack to my freshman spring term when I enrolled in a class called Social Problems (Sociology 2) with my best friend, Kate. From what I could gather, the class was going to be about… well, social problems, and that really intrigued me. In high school, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Katz, a true Seamus-Kahn innovator who choose to teach in Wellesley, Massachusetts in what I am sure was in an effort to better understand the Northeast elite. She imparted the basics regarding American History on us, but also stressed the systematic inequalities present in our society every step of the way. And in my formative years, this really stuck with me and became a motivation for my stumbling into an introductory sociology class that spring. Having already let down my father in not sticking with the biology major, I fell in love with sociology and never looked back. Which brings me to my first meeting with Judy Danna. In juggling the then DegreeWorks interface and my own confusion about my D-Plan, I scheduled a meeting with Judy to just get her pulse on the department. We instantly clicked and before I knew it, I had a new job sitting in the epicenter of the sociology department: the welcome desk.
Admittedly, the responsibilities of the sociology office assistant are both modest and minimal. Daily tasks include clorox wiping in an effort to win the enduring crusade against coffee splatters around the Keurig machine, refilling office supplies, scanning a few chapters here and there, redirecting a lost passerby, and of course engaging in friendly banter with the sociology faculty. In fulfilling my duties, I developed wonderful relationships with both professors and administrators. The job truly has been an integral part of my Dartmouth career.
My senior independent research project has been marked by such magical moments and friendships as the ones described above. From countless rainy, pre-spring afternoons spent in Rauner Library with school archivist, Peter Carini, to intense conversations with faculty both past and present about the dark sports of the department, I have had the great pleasure turning this department inside out. I hope you all enjoy.
Best,
Soph Stone
Dartmouth College, Class of 2018
