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.
This past weekend, my sorority had a sisterhood retreat for the '23 rush classes!
Before Dartmouth, I had never thought about joining a Greek house. To be fair, I didn't have a preference one way or another. This was primarily because Greek life didn't seem relevant to my world as a low-income, Asian-American from Michigan—I did not know that sororities existed in forms other than the houses full of rich, tanned, blonde girls depicted in Legally Blonde.
In coming to Dartmouth my freshman year, I met many different types of people and learned about how big the Greek system was here (over 60% of all students are affiliated). I gradually saw how different Dartmouth's social space was compared to those at bigger schools. While not perfect, I've found the system here to be much more inclusive and accepting of those with different backgrounds, racially, culturally, socioeconomically, or otherwise. For example, I am quite culturally reserved compared to most people and don't enjoy many of the activities that permeate typical sorority life. But at Dartmouth, I've never found this to be a problem and have been able to have fun with others while not crossing my boundaries. The sisterhood retreat this past weekend was an example of that!
The house made kabobs for dinner along with burgers!
We started out on Friday night with movies (Mamma Mia 2!) and temporary tattoos with henna and InkBox. It was my first time trying henna and I was a little nervous, but I think it turned out really well! I had a lot of fun spending time with the other '23s in the house and trying something new.
Saturday was a day full of fun, starting from making breakfast in the morning to a scavenger hunt, charcuterie boards, tie dye, painting pong paddles, and more in the afternoon. I'd also never done a lot of these things and it actually surprised me how much I enjoyed them! The scavenger hunt brought out a little bit of my competitive side (we won!!) and I loved making (and then eating) the charcuterie board even though I probably should not have had that much dairy at once. The day wound down with a trip to the river, bracelet making, and dinner.
So that was my sorority's sisterhood retreat in a nutshell! College is all about trying new things in the classroom and in life, and I am really grateful to have such a solid group of people to explore with. With how chaotic everything is (especially on top of the D-plan), it is reassuring to know that these girls have my back and I'll always have theirs as well.
One scavenger hunt assignment: find something with West Virginia on it!
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.
