Hi everyone! My name's Daniel, and I'm a 25! I'm from California, but I also lived in Seoul, South Korea for almost half of my life. I'm hoping to major in Biological Anthropology. If I'm not under my sheets watching a new Netflix series, you'll probably catch me at Dirt Cowboy Café drinking iced mocha or hanging out with my friends on the Green. I hope you learn something new about Dartmouth today!
Coming to college, one of the biggest fears I had was taking STEM courses with a lab component. Despite this, I decided to take a general chemistry class (CHEM 5) my first term, which has a huge—I mean huge—time-consuming lab component. And I wanted to share my experience with taking it!
CHEM 5 has a separate lab class period that is around 4-hours. Seems scary right? Well, in reality, our lab period only lasts around 2-3 hours, with each week entails another challenging yet exciting experiment topic. Also, since Dartmouth's quarter lasts for around 10 weeks, and two weeks are dedicated to adjusting to classes (the first week) and taking final examinations (the last week), there are about 8 labs total.
Experiment involving dry ice and CO2 gas!
Every week, the lab takes place either on Monday / Tuesday, depending on your schedule. And, we are given a data analysis assignment that encompasses what we covered during the experiment, which is due the same week on Friday or Saturday. Personally, I never felt stressed whilst undergoing data analysis, as my laboratory TA (different from my chem class TA!) was always there to answer questions through both email and text. Many may think a lab component is unnecessary for actually grasping the respective concepts, I honestly thought the experiment & following assignments were very helpful in helping me understand and supplemented my knowledge.
Experiment on precipitate formation!
As a pre-medical student, I most likely have to take lab classes all throughout my Dartmouth career—from organic chemistry next year to biology foundations courses. Next term, I'm taking General Physics II (PHYS 4), which also has a lab that pertains to topics within the fundamental laws and phenomena of electricity, magnetism, and light, including quantum mechanical concepts. I'm ready to take on another challenge!
I've been contemplating, for all of fall term, what extracurricular activity I feel passionate about—what activity I'd want to dedicate significant amounts of time towards. My conclusion was science research!
During Winterim, I have had the chance to become a Research Assistant (RA) for the first time ever with the Dartmouth Energy Justice Clinic. Come learn about my experiences so far!
Dartmouth operates a quarter system which allows you to focus your energy on just three classes while also not getting bored of them because the term tends to fly by in just ten weeks.
In Earth Science, we took the classroom into the field as we identified the rocks that made up different buildings on campus, as well as delving into the geological foundation of the school!
Experiment involving dry ice and CO2 gas!
Experiment on precipitate formation!
