Hi! I'm Memo, a rising junior from Bangkok, Thailand. On campus, I'm involved in undergraduate research, the Women in Computer Science Club, the Thai Student Association, and the introduction-CS-course TA team! I'm currently in Ujimelt, a summer dance group, and TA-ing for a Dartmouth Summer Scholars class. When I'm not too busy with classes and extracurriculars, I love to cook, paddle board, drink matcha, and, of course, blog!
Academic Program
Computer Science modified with Digital Arts Major + Human-Centered Design Minor
Coming in with some Python background, I still find this class challenging. Yet, I always enjoy going to Vasanta's lectures and working on the short assignments with the help of the TAs. Awesome experience.
Professor Pierson taught the class really well—his lectures always start with a hook that keeps me engaged. Although the material is definitely more challenging than the prior class, I learned a whole lot more. My CS1 professor suggested we learn Java before taking CS10 (she even sent us resources for it!), but of course, I didn't. It was a language I continued picking up as I did my short assignments and PSETs with my partner. The workload is not light; however, I felt like everything was worth learning!
Initially, I felt daunted by the thought of taking Data Visualization due to its rigorous materials and challenging projects. The course is structured as a flipped classroom, encouraging us to read textbooks before class and complete assignments with guidance from Professor Horiuchi. This approach was incredibly beneficial; he allowed us to solve problems independently, answered our questions, and provided valuable insights at the end of each session. Although the exams were tough, they directly reflected our in-class practice. Additionally, I applied what I learned during my first summer internship!
Professor Beaudoin is one of my favorite professors and lecturers at Dartmouth! I have always been interested in classical music, and this class allowed me to completely immerse myself into it. Early Classical Music was vastly different from traditional college classes – we listened to pieces from ancient civilizations, flipped through preserved music scripts written on cattle skin, copied down old music notations, and attended a Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra performance. For our final essay, I read extensively about Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, a French harpsichordist from the 1600s. This experience not only enhanced my knowledge of Jacquet de La Guerre but also taught me how to efficiently navigate the library and utilize its resources.
Taking ENGS 012: Design Thinking with Professor Steinhauer (Rafe) was one of my best decisions. The class significantly enhanced my creative thinking and collaboration skills. We worked on various projects, each with different groups. My favorite project involved building a foamcore rollercoaster for a ping pong ball. The class became really close and it felt like high school all over again!
In this course, my team and I built a motorized gutter system! The class focuses on applying design thinking principles from ENGS 012 to create need-based solutions for specific user groups. With the theme of 'rural living' this term, my group targeted homeowners in snowy areas with gutter systems. Our motorized gutter system aimed to prevent ice dams and gutter damage during winter.
Walking into my first computer science class at Dartmouth, I was not sure what to expect. Frankly, I was intimidated by the class material, and my lack of experience was concerning. However, by the first week, I was introduced to various resources available to all the students! These include recitation hours, where you get the chance to rehearse each week's material with an undergraduate teaching assistant (TA) and office hours, where you can ask the TAs questions on your assignments. My recitation leader (the TA in charge of my assigned recitation hour) not only carefully explained novel concepts to me, but he also swiftly replied to any questions I had before exams or due dates. He played a large role in my success journey. On top of having your recitation leader, you can walk into any TA's office hours. These office hours happen all the time—by all the time, I mean all the time. Many sessions are offered on weekdays, but these TAs work on the weekends too! If you have a bug in your code or a topic that you haven't fully grasped, you can head right over to the ECSC (Engineering and Computer Science Center) building.
After considering the amount of time I've spent in ECSC as a CS1 (Introduction to Programming and Computation) student, I decided to become a TA this term instead! It has been exactly a year since I took CS1 with Vasanta (Professor Kommineni), and getting to participate in the class from a different perspective has been eye-opening. When I was a student, I initially felt afraid to ask questions because I didn't want to be perceived as a clueless first-year. Looking back, I should've asked way more questions. I am always so happy to help out CS1 students during my office hours—I'm so glad when they finally see their code running!
I also used to be afraid to mess up my code. What I mean by that is I only ran my program if I believed it to be 100% correct. My mindset changed after attending an office hour where, instead of answering my hypothetical questions, the TA told me to "just run it." That was exactly what I did. Of course, it didn't give me the right output, but it encouraged me to be more experimental with my solutions. As a TA now, my goal is to support other students to do the same.
If you've read this far and realized you don't plan on taking CS1 ever, this is still for you. The good news is that these resources are also available in other classes and departments! When I was taking QSS17 or GOVT16 (Data Visualization) and PSYC1 (Introductory Psychology), there were group tutoring sessions that students could attend weekly. In my writing classes and any other classes, I could always set up office hours with the professors and TAs.
As a student here, I know that there are resources readily available for me, and that's why my experience in classes has been wonderful so far. I know that I will be supported well throughout my experience here.
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
As a senior, one of the most exciting things for me is my thesis project. In this blog, I describe how to approach making a senior honors thesis. As Dartmouth focuses on their undergraduate research, many students complete a thesis, so let's dive in!
Join me for a 5:30 A.M adventure as I hike the Gile Mountain to catch the sunrise and explore the Norwich Farmers' Market, enjoying delicious treats and a beautiful morning!
