Avoid the Winterim rut by indulging your Ivy League brain
For when you finally get bored of Netflix
In times of extreme stress from all-nighters and endless loads of homework at the end of fall term, winter break is the light at the end of a deep dark tunnel for many Dartmouth students.
When I finished my last exam and packed up my things to head home, I was on cloud nine headed into my month of relaxation.
But several days later with many of my friends still at school, I found myself disturbingly bored and my life devolved into this depressing daily cycle:
- Wake up midday
- Microwave breakfast (at 2pm)
- Assume favorite couch position and watch hours of television
- Avoid judgemental stares from family
- Eventually smuggle food to bedroom and continue watching privately on Netflix
Realizing this should not be the way a Dartmouth student spends a month free of obligation and worry, I dove into my mother’s expansive collection of books and ended up finding a sense of purpose in a hopeless place.
After many hours spent reading and much debate here are some must reads over interim for anyone needs a pick-me-up.
Malcom Gladwell
I’d honestly recommend anything and everything written by Malcolm Gladwell. His writing is entertaining, and has amazing insights into the field of social psychology that will change how you view personal success, interpersonal communication, and social/cultural phenomena.
The Tipping Point and Outliers are among his finest.
The New Jim Crow
This novel prevents a convincing argument that the United States has a racist criminal justice system which has replaced Jim Crow as a modern system perpetuating structural racism.
Regardless of your political views on the matter, The New Jim Crow provokes valuable discussion and analysis of America’s criminal justice system and the current racial climate in general.
I Will Teach You to be Rich
This book has valuable knowledge for any Dartmouth student. It provides practical and easy-to-follow advice on how young adults can save a ton of money budgeting a salary, making informed investments, getting the right kind of credit cards or bank accounts and ensuring you maintain a low credit score.
Happy reading.