Welcome! I'm Olivia Koo '26, hailing from Los Alamos, New Mexico. I am studying biological chemistry on the pre-med track, and I'm excited to be supplementing it with music, as a classical pianist and singer-songwriter! Some of my favorite things to do are watching YouTube videos about video games, singing and playing my guitar, and reading New York Times op-eds. Look through my page for information about Dartmouth's pre-med track, STEM research, acapella/music, and study abroad opportunities!
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.
For one of my classes on the London Music FSP, I got to attend a myriad of musical performances in London and discuss them with my class! It was a once-in-a-life-time experience–getting to watch multiple operas, ballets, jazz sets, and a musical, as well as seeing beautiful performances from the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and more, helped me grow my ear so much and my inspirations as a musician.
I took this class to learn a little more about the social landscape around medicine, and this class delivered that by a mile. From environmental exposure to racial inequities in medicine/health to the discussion of medicine itself as a manipulative tool in colonialist social structures, this class helped me rethink medicine and my role within it.
Fresh off of Sophomore Summer, I arrived at Dartmouth ready to "do it all over again"—the chaotic but exciting fall term, the studious yet serene winter term, and the celebratory spring term. And yet, something feels different in the air than when I was last here.
As an upperclassman now, the responsibility of providing and "defining" the Dartmouth experience for new students on campus and the students still here feels stronger than ever. With the newness of a first-year and sophomore experience, I still felt at the whim of Dartmouth as an institution, as I learned more about how this school worked. But with the emergence of my junior year, I think I finally understand the power of Dartmouth not just as a reputable institution but an institution that is shaped by its students. The evidence is everywhere: from First-Year Trips, where fellow students are Trip Leaders to first-years during their orientation hiking/camping trips, to student jobs, where friendly faces will be the ones at reception desks or taking cafe orders, to Learning Fellows and Teaching Assistants, where students who have taken a certain course will help out a new class with that course by offering study tips, guidance, and advice. Dartmouth continues to shift and change with the people that occupy it at that time.
This term, I have been given more opportunities to shape Dartmouth for my peers. As a first-time peer tutor, I get the chance to help students through a challenging course that I went through around the same time last year. As an upperclassman in my acapella group, I am slowly being incorporated into leadership roles. Due to the small nature of the school, I feel that every class and every person places an impact on the college, and sets the experience for the students who come next. Each student at Dartmouth provides their unique space and perspective on the school, and as I have gotten to know more and more students, I realize that my Dartmouth experience would be different even if a single person were not present.
A picture of Occom Pond from my freshman year! The years may change, but the pond endures.
As an admissions blogger, I have always held some responsibility for representing the school and its nature to prospective students and anyone else who may be interested. I feel that responsibility more strongly now, as someone who shapes Dartmouth at the same time as blogging about what Dartmouth is!
Through my junior year and senior year, I hope to continue learning more about myself and the world through Dartmouth, but also to use Dartmouth as the avenue it can be, to use it as the road towards a future that I want for myself and the world. I hope that this blog reflects the same, and showcases Dartmouth through the lens of an upperclassman.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
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?
