

Jenny Chen

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Jenny's D-Plan
What's a D-Plan?-
FallOn Campus
Favorite Class: Sociology 001I looked forward to this class every week, partly because of the professor and partly due to the content. We read books on a wide variety of topics, ranging from privilege and how it affects our interactions with others to restaurant kitchens and the hierarchies inherent in surgical residencies.
WinterOn Campus
Favorite Class: Biology 013Biol13 is structured so that you have to work as a group on difficult class problems and even on some exams, which was novel to me and pushed me to really understand the material. This class inspired me to pursue research (both off-campus and on-campus) related to genetics.
SpringOn Campus
Favorite Class: The Body: The Nude in Western Visual ArtAlthough this class was daunting to me in the beginning, given that I had little to no experience in either Women's, Gender, and Sexuality or Art History, it was also one of the classes in which I became the most engaged in. For our final project, I investigated the history of allegories in Western art and why they were so often portrayed as women.
SummerOff Campus
I interned at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA under Dr. Livingston. I explored the mechanism by which BRCA1 acts as a tumor suppressor. It was really rewarding to be able to apply what I had learned in Biol13, including specific procedures and techniques we had been tested on, to a real-life laboratory setting.
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FallOn Campus
Favorite Class: Organic ChemistryThis class is notorious for its difficulty, and I would not call it an easy class. Nonetheless, it was my favorite class because I loved Professor Jacobi, who has taught at Dartmouth for 22 years, and I appreciated learning mechanisms behind why certain reactions happen. Instead of rote memorization, this class relied on being able to predict the products of a reaction, a skill picked up from lots of practice.
WinterOn Campus
Favorite Class: Introduction to Cultural AnthropologyAlthough this was an introductory class, Professor Craig made it more dynamic and interactive, with several visits to the Hood Museum of Art, ethnography labs, and weekly discussion posts. I learned about everything from the Gebusi culture and their rites of passage to the opioid epidemic. For my final paper, I conducted an ethnography studying the social dynamics that take place in Baker Lobby and how that relates to the exchange of capital.
SpringOn Campus
Favorite Class: Introduction to Programming and ComputationThough I had taken four years of computer science before (mostly in middle school), I did not have a very good experience with coding prior to taking CS1. However, the professor was one of the best professors I have had, explaining jargon in understandable ways and even giving out chocolate bars to students who answered the most difficult questions she would ask in class. I was certain that there was no way I would be able to create the lab assignments (such as a revolving solar system animation and map of Dartmouth that calculated the shortest possible route between two points), but she enabled all of us to through exercises, short assignments, and exams.
SummerOn Campus
Favorite Class: Sex, Gender, and SocietyI took this class for a distributive requirement and ended up loving it. Each student was assigned a day to present on a certain topic - mine being patriarchy. I decided to analyze relationships in Crazy Rich Asians through a lens of the patriarchal bargain. We explored transgender issues, the history of feminism, gender identity, and so much more. Would highly recommend!
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FallOn Campus
Favorite Class: Sports AnalyticsAs someone who didn't know the rules to pretty much any sport, I tentatively signed up for this class. However, the professors made it clear that everyone had a different sports background, so I never felt at a disadvantage. We used Markov chains to predict winners of tennis matches, analyzed field goals kicks using logit models, and listened to guest speakers from a variety of industries.
WinterOff Campus
I spent the winter at the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, studying epidemiology and global health. I was first involved on a project using data surveillance and social media to model Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, but as soon as the COVID-19 outbreak started, I transitioned to that. I was even able to publish my first paper!
SpringOff Campus
I was planning to study in Rome for the term and practice my basic Italian skills, but unfortunately the program was canceled. Instead of taking classes, I decided to continue working at my winter internship at NIH. Some of the research I conducted involved analyzing data on excess mortality as a method of estimating the true burden of COVID-19.
SummerOff Campus
I continued my research at Fogarty while also working part-time as a Learning Fellow for BIOL13 (Gene Expression and Inheritance), a job I also did my sophomore summer. It was great to see some familiar faces and help with transitioning this very interactive class into something Zoom-friendly!
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FallOn Campus
Favorite Class: Design ThinkingI had heard about this class long before taking it my senior fall, as it's one of those quintessential Dartmouth classes. We had a total of six projects over ten weeks, many of which were group projects. They included everything from building rollercoasters, creating Photoshop posters to combat harmful misconceptions, and designing prototypes to improve student dorm life. I learned so much about what it means to design ethically and purposefully, and will definitely carry these lessons forward with me in my future endeavors.

My Favorite Hidden Spots (Shh!)
If you visit Dartmouth, you will probably walk along the Green, go up to the Tower Room, and head into town for a quick bite to eat.

Kresge Physical Sciences Library? It's solid.
Whole bookcases of scientific journals, organic chemistry model kits, and solutions manuals for when you’re struggling with that tricky problem. What more could you ask for? Maybe some killer views?

Dartmouth Traditions – the weird, wacky, and wonderful
Given Dartmouth’s long history, the number of traditions that students participate in should not be shocking. However, that does not mean I was prepared for all the fun and crazy ahead of me coming into Dartmouth.

How I Started Research at Dartmouth
I knew I wanted to go to medical school early on, so when I was looking at potential colleges, the ability for undergraduates to become involved with research was high on my list of requirements.

The O-Farm: Food and Friends
This year, Brewhaha was also zero-waste, so everyone brought their own mug as a way to reduce waste and encourage environmental awareness.

Canoeing on the Connecticut
My house community organized a canoeing event. They rented out canoes from the Ledyard Canoe Club from 2-4 pm, allowing us to canoe for free , so for the second time that weekend, I made the trip to the river,

How Dartmouth Became My Home
It was the spring that allowed me to really appreciate what’s unique about Dartmouth and experience those things with my friends.

Farewell, Dartmouth
This past Wednesday was my official last day of classes for freshman year. Spring term has passed in the blink of an eye, and now I only have a few days left here before I head home for the summer.



Where art thou, art books?
The very first time I stepped into Sherman Art Library was twenty weeks into my time here at Dartmouth.

Music with MILCK
I love music just as much (and maybe even more) than the next person, but I must admit, I’m not as hip about the top 50 or the popular songs kids listen to these days.