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 Chemistry and 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!
We're already at the start of week 9, which is crazy to even think about. Already, I met so many caring people, went to countless exciting lectures, and participated in a wide spectrum of fun events! And I'm beyond excited to see what the next two weeks will bring to my first quarter Dartmouth experience (go away finals…).
As some of you may know, I'm currently on a pre-medical track, although I'm unsure as to what major I will pursue. So, I wanted to quickly go over how my premed experience was so far into my fall term––what extracurriculars I'm engaged in, what classes I've taken and will take next quarter, and what resources are out there for students wanting to pursue premed like me.
To begin, I'm currently involved in two pre med clubs: Primary Care Progress (PCP) and Dartmouth Coalition for Global Health (DCGH). For PCP, I was accepted into the communication/social chair recently, which means that I'm already a part of the executive board! Although we haven't done much yet, I'm excited to learn more about primary care as I meet real-life health professionals, attend seminars, host medicine-related social events, and more. As for DCGH, we always handle interesting topics related to healthcare and healthcare consulting, which I also want to continue. I know a few friends of mine are involved in other pre-medical clubs as well, like Dartmouth-EMS (soon saving lives), Palamedes Partners (bridging STEM and business), and Nathan Smith Society.
For my classes, I'm currently taking Chem 5: General Chemistry 1, which is going really well! I love our intriguing labs, working with my peers to problem-solve, and often seeing our learned concepts be applicable in real-life. Next quarter, I'm planning on taking Phys 4: General Physics 2, and I'm ecstatic to see what I'll learn then.
Let's talk about what I wanted to emphasize in this blog post: pre med resources. I wanted to shout-out Manual, who I met through the pre-health peer mentoring program, as he helped me so much in figuring out my class schedules, what organizations to take part in, and what potential internships/work opportunities I'm interested in for the upcoming winterim and summer. I also love both Alicia and Sarah, who are Dartmouth's extremely caring, kind, and helpful pre med advisors; they immensely helped my transition into a new college environment to be much smoother both academically and socially than anticipated. In addition, faculty advisors, professors, undergraduate deans, and undergraduate advisors (UGAs) have all helped me to better define my future aspirations and career goals; I'm thankful for each and every one of them.
While some parts of my 9-weeks here at Dartmouth were a bit rough, I'm pleasantly surprised at how the positive aspects outweigh the negatives. I'm excited to see what the next quarter has in store for me!
Now, as I'm wrapping up the last days of my freshman year in college (UNBELIEVABLE), I want to share some things that I learned throughout my first year here as well.
There is no "the" thing you should be stressing over doing between your first-year and sophomore years. It's about what you need and what will bring you fulfillment.
Despite the vast ocean that separates me and my dream school, I applied to Dartmouth College as an international student from Bangkok, Thailand in the early decision round. This wasn't just a leap of faith, I assure you.
