Hello there, friend! My name is Love and I am a '23. Aside from being on the pre-med track, I'm currently interested in studying math and public policy. I have a penchant for old things, learning languages, and the arts. I also love personality tests, irrespective of their actual validity—in case you're curious, I'm an INFJ, Scorpio, dragon, and type 2w1.
BIOL 11.07 (Major Events in the History of Life and the Human Genome) is a very unique class. We learn topics such as oxidative phosphorylation in conjunction with evolution and paleontology. In other words, where and when did ETC come from, and how can we support our hypothesis? Though not an easy class by far, every day the material I learn amazes me with the wonder of life, which is how biology should be!
MES 7.03 (Jerusalem: Vision and Reality) was my First-Year Seminar and such an interesting class to take! We explored Jerusalem through three main viewpoints (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). The class had a bit of religion, literature, anthropology, sociology, and even geography—all things I love to study but don't necessarily have the space for with our three-class quarters. I often found myself going to office hours just to talk with my professor about questions I had outside of the reading!
COSC 10 (Problem Solving with Object-Oriented Programming) is a data structures course and the last pre-requisite for the computer science major. Though I added it as a fourth class on a whim because of COVID-19 and remote learning, it quickly became my favorite class this term because I loved the problem solving that CS has to offer. It is a difficult class but the emotional and academic rewards make it all worth it!
This was one of four classes I took during fall term and it was super interesting! We learned about healthcare systems and innovations from around 4 guest lecturers per week, and were able to do research on our own and propose a new system at the end of the term. Students came from all over campus and the course was very enlightening for me in terms of understanding how care is dispensed in the U.S. and how we can improve it.
Though this was my first "foundation" course in the Biology department and I still found it challenging, I really enjoyed learning the material and found it all super exciting! We learned about DNA replication, mRNA transcription and protein translation, genetics, and had the opportunity to do a literature review at the end of the term.
The dreaded Organic Chemistry sequence of my pre-med track came upon me faster than I thought it would, but it surprised me by being one of my favorite classes to date! I found it intellectually interesting (even though it was time-consuming), probably because I treated it like a STEM-and-logic puzzle instead of pure STEM or pure memorization. Am I great at it? Not necessarily. Do I remember everything I've learned? I'm not too sure! Am I mentally ready for Organic Chemistry 2 next term? Not at all! But I had a lot of fun doing this class and surprised even myself with how I tackled it.
I love dancing, story-telling, and learning about different cultures so I knew going into this course that I would enjoy it. Cross-listed in the theater and AAAS departments, this course let students have the privilege of working with Dance Theatre of Harlem members who were in Hanover for a summer residency. As a group, we analyzed a play ("The Purple Flower" by Marita Bonner) and transformed the text into a physical movement piece. Each student also had complete ownership of a personal final project, and I opted to do a self-choreographed dance. Overall, I loved getting the chance to work creatively in my academics this term and I also was able to broaden my perspective and knowledge of the African-American story in the process!
As a pre-med, I am constantly trying to learn more about the U.S medical system. This course was extremely engaging in all aspects, taking students through all of American history through the lens of healthcare within the span of 10 weeks. I particularly liked having a discussion session that replaced a lecture, since we were able to talk about the issues with the professor and think out loud about our readings. The course was definitely challenging and required a lot of synthesis across different time periods and topics, but I feel like I came out of it with a deeper and more profound understanding of our healthcare system and why it functions the way it does today.
WinterDetroit, MI
For my junior winter, I did an internship in clinical research! With COVID affecting so much of my college experience, this practical, in-person work internship was very important for me to not only hone my employable skills but also see what having a 8am - 5pm job looks like and how it could fit into my future.
Much like my other pre-med courses here at Dartmouth, Biochemistry was quite rigorous and fast-paced. It was certainly challenging, but I found the work extremely rewarding and I enjoyed learning about all the different mechanisms that happen inside of our bodies. Additionally, many of my friends were also in this class as well, rounding out final prerequisites for graduate school, and this fact made it all the more fun.
SummerDresden, Germany
For my junior summer, I had a research internship in Eastern Germany, working at the intersection between math, computer science, and biology! The learning curve was very steep since my project focus changed once I arrived in Europe, but I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about the content and myself. I am extremely thankful for all the support that Dartmouth has given me throughout my time here, without which I wouldn't have been able to do a 12-week European adventure!
As a pre-med student interested in health disparities, SOCY 75 was an amazing class to take! We covered numerous topics concerning how where one lives can impact their health outcomes. At the end of the course, students were also able to complete a final project of their choosing and I loved being able to tie my personal experiences into an academic course.
Throughout college, most of my science courses have been at the introductory level: one term of genetics, one term of cell structure, etc. Rarely have I had the chance to engage with something on a deeper level or connect the pre-med courses to human biology. This course was super interesting because I could finally connect everything I've learned throughout college into one cohesive course that connects to something I want to do post-Dartmouth.
In what ways does Dartmouth make the campus experience affordable for students (beyond financial aid)?
A:
In many ways, I think that Dartmouth is super accessible money-wise so I'm glad that you asked. Here are some things that Dartmouth or Dartmouth organizations have done to make the campus experience affordable for me!
1. Student-Accessible Funds
As a college student, certain things come up every year that aren't included in your tuition statement. While these costs aren't explicitly included in most low-income students' scholarships, there are funds or student-led initiatives across campus that help with this! You can get free tickets for the Dartmouth Coach through Student Assembly's termly first-come, first-served giveaway, for example, and my freshman year OPAL gave out gift cards to L.L. Bean for winter gear. Many student-led organizations, such as the Dartmouth Student Union, are also creating more student-accessible funds to support these small costs that still do sum up to a large total of money for the low-income student.
Almost all on-campus activities are completely free to attend and commonly include free catered food from nearby restaurants as well. In this way, no student needs to worry about having to afford events or go on trips with their classmates. One extremely famous example of a Dartmouth-sponsored activity is the annual West House trip to New York City, where a raffle is drawn for a group of students to have an all-expenses, weekend-long trip to NYC. Other examples are free movie or performance tickets for the Hop, free talks by prominent speakers, and the ice rink that was established on the Green for 21W. Since the campus experience is commonly colored by these Dartmouth-sponsored activities, I find that this is one of the most effective ways in creating an accessible atmosphere.
3. Scholarships for Dues
Certain things on campus still have fees, however, such as club gear, interim break trips, or even Greek life. Most of these clubs, however, are COSO-recognized and thus set aside funds for students seeking financial aid. In my past experiences, such as when I was to go on a spring break trip to Washington, D.C. or I had to buy a sweatshirt for the uniform of a dance group's performance, these clubs had sufficient funds to allow me to apply for need-based "scholarships" to reduce the amount of money I had to spend. The process is ridiculously simple, too—no student tries to insensitively verify that you are "sufficiently" low-income for fees scholarships and I've never felt embarrassed for emailing the treasurer for help.
4. Locality of Dartmouth
The last thing that I would like to mention is just the locality of Dartmouth. A great thing about going to school in rural New Hampshire is that you aren't in a city like NYC or Boston, where young people will naturally want to go out to cafés, have fun and go shopping, or go out to the theater or watch a concert. Being at Dartmouth means that we are usually cocooned in campus life, and I've never felt the pressure to spend money that I didn't have. Our student lives were almost completely shaped by watching performances at the Hop, studying at the library, pooling together money to buy Domino's, going out to fraternities (which don't have cover fees), or using the free Upper Valley transit system to get out of Hanover and explore the local towns. It is a really simple, carefree lifestyle that I've loved being able to be a part of when I was on campus; importantly, it also means that we as Dartmouth students can usually forget about the wealth labels and just have fun together because most of our fun isn't dependent on money!
At Dartmouth, there is an undergraduate requirement for language; after all, it is the liberal arts! Fulfilling this requirement looks different for various people and I will focus on my experience.
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
This past interim, I was part of an interfaith group that traveled to Washington DC! Houses of worship were a huge part of the trip and we were fortunate to have some wonderful tours and conversations.
Last week, I returned from my AIARE 1 course, which focuses on decision-making in avalanche terrain. The program involved a weekend away from school to learn about snow safety, avalanche rescue techniques, and more.
