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.
When you picture wine country, your mind might jump to France's rolling vineyards or Napa's sunny hills—but Shandong, China? That was a surprise even for me. On one of our recent excursions, we headed to Penglai in Shandong province to visit Mystic Island Winery, a boutique spot crafting wines that hold their own on the world stage while staying rooted in local flavors.
This trip had been a year in the making, thanks to the generosity of Dartmouth alum KC Kung (Class of '98) and his wife, Rita Kung, owner of Mystic Island Winery. KC, a private equity founder and investor based in Hong Kong. Rita welcomed us with the kind of warmth that makes you feel instantly at home—whether or not you know a thing about wine.
To keep cool under the sun, we were all given matching hats during the tour.
KC and Rita shared that their original plan was just to build a vacation home—a peaceful getaway spot for their family to enjoy a change of scenery. But when they visited Penglai in 2008, they fell in love with the rolling hills and were inspired by the local government's push to develop a cluster of boutique wineries.
With their passion and network of experts, they decided to turn that vacation dream into something bigger: creating their own sustainable winery. They brought together top international specialists in grape cultivation along with a dedicated local team and farmers who use mostly manual methods. Thanks to their efforts, Qiushan Valley has transformed from a simple orchard into a world-class vineyard.
The vineyard looked beautiful in the sunlight, with every row clearly well cared for.
We started out inside the winery, where we learned how the wine is made and the philosophy behind it. It actually reminded me of Daoism, a concept we'd studied in our Introduction to Chinese Culture class in the spring. The winery follows an ecological approach, aiming to work with nature rather than against it, meaning they keep human intervention to a minimum.
The grapes here are hand-picked and gently destemmed with top-tier equipment. They aren't just tossed into machines. Instead of being crushed, they're gravity-fed into the press or fermentation tanks. One of my favorite details? They play music to the wine. The idea is to create a happy, comfortable atmosphere, since "the wine brings life" to people. At one point, I caught an instrumental version of Beauty and the Beast floating through the room.
From there, the grapes rest and transform in oak or stainless-steel barrels until they're ready to be bottled.
Photo taken by Shahzeb '27
Our visit continued with a tour of the vineyards, a remarkably beautiful experience.
Stumbled onto a sunflower field! How gorgeous.
After our tour, we sat down for a lively Q&A with KC and Rita, followed by a wine tasting and a buffet-style dinner. As if the evening weren't memorable enough, the whole thing was being filmed for a Cathay Pacific promotional documentary—which made it feel just a little bit like we'd stumbled onto a movie set.
At Dartmouth, students have the opportunity to fuse two different academic studies and programs into a single major. Learn more about my modified major here!
