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.
Academic Program
Biochemistry major, Music minor, pre-health
Favorite Thing Right Now
The thermos of breakfast tea I carry with me everywhere
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!
Happy New Year, and happy Winter term! No new year is complete without New Year's resolutions. For my second term at Dartmouth, I wanted to share a couple resolutions and goals surrounding social and mental well-being based on my previous term and for looking ahead!
Calling family and friends from home regularly
As the fall term grew busier, I found myself skipping calls with my family and missing texts from friends. After all, with so many new experiences, finding that time felt like a lower priority. However, spending time with my family in the winterim made me realize how much I had missed them and how valuable their support and love are to me. Contacting them less often, I realized, took a hit on my mental health. Aiming to call them and friends on a steady schedule, such as every week, could be a manageable goal that keeps that sense of home and stability.
Exploring different academic experiences
Somehow, the prospect of careers looms ever larger when in college. Who would've thought? It's stressful, but if one's not careful, can also take away from the joy and allure of learning itself. I want to combine the contemplation of future careers with a general passion for learning. Whether it be working in a lab by attending a lab course this term, or learning Python through my WISP internship, or receiving writing feedback on my essays in my writing seminar, I hope that I can approach these with enthusiasm and to expand my own limits in the process. I'm sure I'll get to do that this year.
Thinking less
Now, I know how this looks. How can I think less when the point of school is to think, to ruminate, to learn? But there's a difference in the type of thinking. Last term, I found myself in a lot of spirals trying to extrapolate trends in my actions into my future, to guess what others thought of me, to avoid looking silly by making mistakes. It's understandable; in a new environment, wanting to make a good reputation and remake oneself is natural. But trying to analyze every little thing made me more fatigued and anxious than before. I hope to watch my own thinking, and to accept and remind myself that there are aspects of life outside of my control, and that answers, although I will be looking for them, will also come in time. In a way, this resolution goes hand in hand with my previous point; why try predicting something's outcome when you can try it out in the first place?
Taking time for myself
As I've spent more time on campus, I've repeatedly been surprised by the number of times I see people I know just by walking around. Just a big feature of living on a smaller campus! But the simultaneous need to refill my social battery and the desire to be included, while being aware enough to say hello to people passing by ended up a little exhausting. I want to be able to evaluate where I can stand on that balance, and to follow it. Basically, I want to know when my body needs time to rest, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I also want to spend as much time in the sun as I can... it's kind of a precious commodity now!
Who knows what's going to happen in 2023? I find myself a little nervous, but also hoping to enjoy the ride. Good luck to everyone in 2023!
Growing up in New England and transitioning to living at Dartmouth, I'm all too familiar with the unpredictability (and beauty) of New England's weather. Let me tell you about it here!
It's not every day that my Intro to Chinese Culture and Understanding the Universe classes were both canceled, but the cosmos had other plans. Welcome to a rare weekday in my life with no classes!
