Hi everyone! I'm Madison. I grew up in Pasadena, California, but spent eight years living in Manila, Philippines, and one year in Spain. I'm planning to double major in Film and Media Studies and Sociology, with a minor in Human-Centered Design. I love spending quality time with people and having good conversations. I'm so excited to share my college journey with you!
Academic Program
Majors in Film and Media Studies and Sociology, Minor in Human Centered Design
An introductory Chinese class for beginners that provides a foundational understanding of the language, including pinyin, proper tones, pronunciation, character writing, basic vocabulary, and sentence structures.
A dynamic, hands-on course that emphasizes empathy-driven problem solving, rapid prototyping, and collaborative innovation through team projects, energizing activities, and practical skill-building sessions.
A course that builds on the foundations of Chinese 001 and 002 by introducing more sentence structures and vocabulary, with regular weekly drills to strengthen speaking and tonal pronunciation, and a shift from traditional to simplified characters in the final three weeks.
A course that builds on introductory Chinese 1 2, and 3, following Chinese 22, and deepens previously learned material through more complex grammar, sentence structures, and expanded vocabulary.
A film theory course that builds on some prior intro experience, where you watch, analyze, discuss, and write about films across different genres while learning how to apply various theories.
Hi! And sorry I've been so MIA. Honestly, this past fall term was one of the most insane, busy, and hectic terms I've had! So much happened, and I wanted to finally catch you all up on everything—so let's get into it.
Week one at Dartmouth was especially wild. Between moving in and getting settled, my boss from my remote fall internship at Shelf came up from New York to help onboard me and get me started with my work. At the same time, I went through the full a cappella audition process. I didn't make it, but that's just how life goes. In college, it's important to be comfortable with rejection now and then and to recognize that there will always be both wins and losses.
Some moments just deserve a pause and a smile.
Alongside all of this, I was also adjusting to a new set of classes. At the start of every term, I find myself adapting to the pace and expectations of each course. This fall, one of those classes was Film 40: Theories and Methodologies of Film and Media Studies, which turned out to be my favorite course I've taken at Dartmouth so far. It's a theory-based film class, and I loved it not only for the material but also because my professor, Paul Young, did an incredible job facilitating discussion and keeping everyone engaged.
Over the span of the course, we watched a wide range of films—from King Kong to Cléo from 5 to 7 to Toy Story—each of which challenged me to think critically about film and analyze the director's intent through the techniques used to tell the story, applying the theories we discussed in class. The class itself was small, with around ten students, which made discussions feel especially personal and meaningful.
I also took Video Games and the Meaning of Life, which was the complete opposite in terms of size. It's a huge class with hundreds of students and is known for being a lot of fun—and it certainly lived up to the hype. During the course, we streamed video games and engaged with them as course material. We also completed readings and listened to podcasts to deepen our understanding. On top of that, we had a separate session led weekly by our TA (teaching assistant), where we talked through the material and made sense of it together. All of these components helped us think more critically about video games, their meaning, and their place in today's world.
The last class I took was Earth Sciences 1. Honestly, it wasn't really my favorite—or what some might call my "cup of tea"—but I took it to fulfill the lab distribution requirement anyway. For some context, Dartmouth has a number of distributive requirements, or "distribs," that students must complete in order to graduate. These range from things like a language requirement to a freshman-year writing class and seminar. One of these distribs is the lab requirement, which asks students to set aside about four hours each week to devote to hands-on experiments, data collection, or research, all designed to give practical experience with scientific methods and concepts.
Taking EARS 1 was different from any other class I've taken because of the mandatory four-hour lab each week. We worked through different stations that helped deepen our understanding of how the Earth works, including tectonic plates, rock types, and their properties. Sometimes we even went on field trips, which made everything feel more relevant and hands-on. It was definitely a lot of work, but on the bright side, I can now identify way more rock types than I ever thought I'd be able to. Plus, it was really cool learning about the Upper Valley and how its geology (like glaciers, eskers, and rock types) explains how the region was formed.
What I like about Dartmouth's liberal arts education is that it encourages curiosity. Even though there are classes you naturally enjoy more than others, it's still important to be well-rounded. Taking a wide range of classes gives you the confidence and perspective to know you can take on whatever you set your mind to later in life.
Aside from classes, this term was filled with so many memories—from joining a sorority, to going on runs outside and taking in the beautiful fall foliage, to cooking with my pod chat for my Videogames and the Meaning of Life class. These are all experiences I'll definitely be blogging about, by the way, so stay tuned.
My first time playing pickleball, actually!
Another thing that really occupied my term was searching for an internship for the winter term. Because of Dartmouth's flexible D-Plan, students can choose when to take time off campus (basically "despawn" for a term). Starting as early as sophomore year, students often spend terms off campus doing things like internships, special projects, or other opportunities. I really like this part of Dartmouth because it lets you gain professional experience throughout the year, rather than only in the summer, when internships tend to be much more competitive.
I was incredibly grateful to receive a $6.5k grant from the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact, which allowed me to be based in New York City and pursue an internship of my choosing. This winter, I'm excited to be working primarily with Asian CineVision, which uplifts Asian American voices in film through the Asian American International Film Festival, while also interning with TikTok on the side.
From the bottom of my heart, being at Dartmouth has opened so many doors for me and has truly changed my life for the better. Every day I wake up feeling grateful and excited to be here. It's such a special place—from the people you meet to the academic resources and the incredibly supportive alumni network. Dartmouth's community is so strong and welcoming, and I already know I'm going to miss it a lot while I'm away this winter.
If you're a prospective geology, mining, or resources student, this post is for you. "The Stretch" is Dartmouth's field geology program, and it covers exactly those areas!
Paris is often hailed as the center of the (European) art world. Through an Art History Fall Plus program, I explored Parisian art in person and up close!
