Welcome! I'm Olivia Koo '26, hailing from Los Alamos, New Mexico. I hope to study biochemistry on the pre-health track, and I'm excited to supplement it with music, as a classical musician and songwriter! Some of my favorite things to do are watching YouTube videos about my favorite TV shows, fiddling on my guitar, and reading New York Times op-eds.
Unsure whether I would enjoy the biology-heavy pre-health track, I took an intro biology class. I surprisingly found myself so invested each class—I didn’t think I’d ever be excited trying to determine if the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) had DNA or RNA, but here we are! I found it a great introduction to thinking processes at Dartmouth.
I loved coming to this class with its supportive environment! The professor's feedback really helped me improve in my writing. This course guided us through personal narratives and organizational writing while discussing what it really means to be authentic. It also introduced me to the library’s resources for writing and research!
This class was definitely not easy! The accelerated version of general chemistry, it was my first class at Dartmouth that used a textbook, and I had to adapt and learn how to use a textbook for a class properly. But that didn't mean I didn't have a good time! The classes were full of physical demonstrations, and I felt very supported in the lab and beyond.
This was the first group music class I took, and I loved it! Each class we'd move a little forward in time; one day we'd talk about medieval chants, and by the next couple weeks, we talked about Baroque music. We even got to observe original medieval music scores from the Rauner Library, and attend a performance of Baroque music by the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra!
Songwriting 1 was the first time I was able to work on something creative/in the arts at Dartmouth, and I really loved it! I got to learn how to improve my songwriting and get to know a community of fellow songwriters on campus. The class was both supportive and constructive, and I pushed myself to my creative limit with the assignment of writing one new song a week. This class inspired me to continue writing and being expressive, whether in an academic setting or not.
Hello from London! For my 2024 spring term, I have the incredible opportunity to live and study in London on the Music Foreign Study Program (FSP)!
I have been planning and waiting for this FSP for the past year—I applied for the program in my first-year winter term, and it's hard to believe that I'm writing this blog in London right now. With a focus on music, this study program is a little different than the other programs offered at Dartmouth. I'd like to share them in this post to show the variety of foreign experiences that Dartmouth students experience!
The music FSP at Dartmouth alternates locations every year, between London and Vienna, both cultural epicenters for music. Instead of living with host families like some study programs, the music FSP students live in apartments or student housing. Although the FSP had multiple students living in one apartment in previous years, we are living in single-student housing units this time around. The study programs have varying living space types, depending on what is being studied and where students are.
Move-in day!
I'm particularly excited about my arrangement because of the provided kitchenette! I haven't had to cook for myself in a living space before, and I'm already cooking up some meals for myself (that aren't just instant ramen).
In stark contrast to Dartmouth's campus, where classes are only a ten-minute walk away, our living situation in this program means we get around with hefty commutes through the London Underground—the tube! It's been a very different experience so far traversing a city instead of a small campus. Navigating and choosing what to do in the city was (and still is) a little overwhelming, but I've been enjoying the "city-living" experience!
The Tube!
And, of course, there's the music. As part of the FSP experience, we students get to watch concerts in London…and a lot of them. I've been here a week, and we've already watched four!
The venues we've gone to so far have been stunning, and since they're all across the city, it's allowed me to explore the city even faster than I expected. The music has been incredible, too. Music has such a wide reach and variety, and the concerts that we'll be seeing this term reflect that. Already, we've seen a concert with African drumming, another with contemporary percussion, and an opera, and there's so much more to see and listen to.
I hope that I get to absorb and be inspired by all the different types of music I learn and listen to, to ultimately create more of my own music! I'll be sharing my experiences with music and London as I do so.
Over half of Dartmouth students study abroad at least once during their undergraduate journeys—quite a high percentage, right? Do you want to know how to best prepare for your own abroad experience? Come check what it was like for me.
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.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
Traditionally, Dartmouth students take three courses during a term, but I decided to take four courses this term! Learn about course load and the academic system at Dartmouth.
