Hi everyone! My name's Daniel, and I'm a 25! I'm from Orange County, California and Seoul, South Korea. I'm hoping to major in Biomedical Engineering and Anthropology Modified with Global Health. If I'm not under my sheets watching a new Netflix series, you'll find me spending time at Still North Café or at the engineering building. I hope you learn something new about Dartmouth today!
Academic Program
Biomedical Engineering and Anthropology Modified with Global Health
This class had an emphasis on really learning the material, rather than mindless regurgitation. Every class lecture truly excited and interested me, and readings were thought-provoking, The final was also a project instead of an exam, which was very fun to complete. I could tell Prof. DeSilva was also very passionate about the class materials as well!
As a "seminar" course, we focused on enjoyable discussion-based lectures. Each and every one of Prof. Kangas' lecture topics were engaging and intriguing, constantly pushing me to think. While we had reading assignments, they weren't necessarily linked to graded discussions/quizzes, which allowed me to feel more relaxed and stress-free (I didn't need to go crazy and write notes in-class). All in all, I loved learning about Pompeii!
A classic pre-med requirement course. This class has a basic structure of problem sets, two midterms, labs, and a final. I thought the points were well-distributed and the exams were fair. I personally enjoy problem-solving, which allowed this class to be more exciting personally. I'd suggest you pick the right professor for you as each professor has a different way of teaching!
This class is taught by Prof. Shipley, a professor who teaches mainly during summer terms. It was very different from the previous anthropology courses I've taken –– we had a filmmaking component as well as a collaborative project. I enjoyed this class because the assignments had a very broad, overarching outline and allowed you to explore your interests very freely. For example, for my final project, I created a podcast that delved into the educational inequity in South Korea.
My first sociology course at Dartmouth. It goes very in-depth about the macro immigration policies in-place in America and how it relates to different immigrants' experiences. I found it intriguing because I'm an immigrant myself, and I also was able to analyze and develop a different outlook on my family's experiences as well. We had interesting projects such as immigrant interview assignment, immigration policy brief, and in-class discussions.
Another first - my first Asian Societies, Culture, and Language (ASCL) course here at Dartmouth. Essentially, through a 3-hour class block each week, you watch a Korean film that provide insights into the different aspects of South Korean culture –– from Korean independence of Japan to modern economic disparities. Very interesting discussions and minimal work: the course focuses a lot more on student learning than testing!
I know what you're thinking: no way this guy liked MATH 13 the best out of his classes. I was thinking the same going into the class, but I enjoyed the problem-solving aspects. Math was one of my favorite subjects in high school, but I didn't get a chance to take any courses here at Dartmouth until I changed to an engineering major which made MATH 13 a prerequisite. All you do is solve problems, practice, grasp concepts, and take exams. But, after a bit, you get the hang of it.
One of my favorite, favorite courses throughout my whole time at Dartmouth. If you thought you know medicine and health, think again –– evolutionary perspectives open up a completely new spectrum of thinking. Have you thought about institutionalized racism in BMI indexes? How about adolescent growth differences between women who give birth in birth centers versus hospitals? Conversations you've never thought of within the medical realm happens in this class. Highly recommend it!
Dartmouth College, as you probably know, is an institution with a liberal arts curriculum; so, you're able to explore your options for quite a bit before you secure a dedicated major. Many other schools don't, which is why I believe this is Dartmouth's advantage! During your fifth term at Dartmouth, most likely the winter term of Sophomore year, you'll declare your major. I personally had around 5-6 major options, ranging from Studio Art to Sociology, before I made a concrete decision. I wanted to take you through the process!
First-year fall - Anthropology modified with Biology
First-year fall, I enrolled in ANTH 6 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology, which gave insight into how a humanities field can perfectly harmonize with a STEM field. I delved into primate evolution, ecology, and ape/monkey species; I found the subject extremely fascinating to a point where I wanted to major in Anthropology but modify it with Biology. Now, what is a "modified" major? At Dartmouth, you can "modify" a major from one department with another department. I've seen students modify Studio Art with Biology or Engineering with Economics. If you're interested in Anthropology and you want to modify it with let's say Sociology, you can choose to use Anthropology as the "primary" or "secondary" department—leading to Anthropology modified with Sociology or Sociology modified with Anthropology.
At this point, I was quite settled on the major of Anthropology modified with Biology because the "best of both worlds" mindset took over. I was excited to see where this journey would take me!
First-year spring - Biology
First-year winter was a quick one; I personally took many non-major courses for Dartmouth's distributive requirement and didn't further sharpen my major interests. Then, during spring, I enrolled in BIOL 12 - Cell Structure and Function. The class was huge on rote memorization, which I enjoyed. Since it had been some time since I took an Anthropology course, I thought a solo Biology major would be better-fitting for my interests. Oh boy, was I wrong.
Sophomore fall - Double major in Biological Chemistry and Sociology
Sophomore fall was when I began to take more specialized classes. I took SOCY 48 - Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity, where I learned interesting concepts like ethnic enclaves, forced migration, and U.S. economic disparities. I found this once again so interesting! I thought Sociology was a perfect major to double up with a STEM major, because I wanted to learn extensively about both fields. Biology was too much memorization at this point for me; freshman summer BIOL 13 - Gene Expression and Inheritance wasn't what I was looking for. But, CHEM 51 - Organic Chemistry 1 interested me significantly during fall. I loved studying for it, and I knew I enjoyed Chemistry more than Biology, which led me to choosing Biological Chemistry as my major at the end of fall term.
Sophomore winter - Biomedical Engineering
This term, I decided to take ENGS 20 - Introduction to Scientific Computing. This is my very first coding class—honestly something I feared a bit. But, now, I think taking this class was the best decision I've made. I enjoy the assignments, collaboration, and projects; I'm excited to see what my future coding courses will be like! So, I realized my final destination is Biomedical Engineering. I officially declared it last week.
P.S. You can re-declare/change your major any time if you have the time to fulfill the requirements.
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