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.
Hi there! It's hard to believe that a whole term has already gone by! It sometimes feels as if the terms go by faster with each one.
This term was a great combination of new things and familiar things! Here were some of the highlights for me this term:
My songwriting class
I was a little nervous at the beginning of this class. The structure of the class consisted of writing a song every week and then presenting it to the class, and I was worried that I might face writer's block or that I wouldn't be able to take the feedback that my classmates and professor would give me. However, I found this class to be a great opportunity for having a creative outlet throughout the term, and I was so inspired by all my classmates, who had their unique voices and musical styles. It's gotten me more excited about exploring the music scene at Dartmouth, too (and in London next term)!
Jamming!
Shadowing in the OR for the first time
This term, through the Nathan Smith Society, I was able to shadow in the operating room. I found it to be an eye-opening experience to see how an operating room, well, operates. The synergy between the nurses, anesthesia and surgical techs, and surgeons was really fascinating to see, and it's increased my scope in knowing how the field operates. It was a little overwhelming, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to observe it!
Taking up running
I know… jogging? In the winter? I found that my schedule this term offered an opportunity to squeeze some exercise into my day if I was feeling it. And the abnormally warm winter this term allowed me to jog outside for many of the days. It was a new form of exercise that I incorporated in my routine, and I found that it boosted my mood a lot—I'm glad I had the chance to implement some good habits into my day that can help maintain my mental and physical health.
Of course, there are some things I wish I did more—I still have yet to go skiing at Dartmouth, after all! But I think that I truly aimed to moderate my time and energy this term, trying to know my limits and not trying to push past them as much as I could. With this last stretch of the term, I might be pushing past them a little bit, but I'd say that, overall, I've made good steps toward maintaining myself. In such short terms, burnout is always a risk, and knowing oneself is crucial. I hope every term I'm at Dartmouth, I get to know myself a little bit more.
But now, I'll be in a completely new environment next term: London!
It's easy to forget how easy it is to access walking trails during the hustle of a Dartmouth term. As graduation nears, I am reminded of how special it is to step off campus and enjoy quiet moments in nature.
With a solar eclipse sweeping across North America for the first time in nearly seven years on April 8th came a road-trip with hundreds of other Dartmouth students to a zone of totality near campus: St. Johnsbury, Vermont!
After returning from an enriching study abroad program, I'm diving into a bustling spring semester here at Dartmouth. Here are my four courses I'm taking this term!
Dartmouth's liberal arts curriculum pushes students to explore new departments and draw connections between seemingly disparate disciplines. Come explore my Economics, Physics, and Asian, Societies, Cultures, and Languages classes!
