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.
About two Wednesdays ago, the Baker-Berry Library, as usual, was filled with the tip-taps of laptop keyboards—but something was different. Most students appeared to be working on the same thing.
What was it?
The application for study abroad programs throughout the next annual year was due on February 1st at 11:59 PM—and everyone was on it. Regardless of whether people started the application months ago or on the day a couple hours before, the campus felt united in the pre- deadline crunch. My location of choice was in the Sudikoff building (the new home of the Music department); a common room called Studio Sudikoff offered study spaces, and I was sitting in one, hoping to also send mine in before the deadline.
The room also has a Wii!
I never expected to chase the opportunity to study abroad. When applying to college, I watched as some of my peers, desperate to explore the world during their time at college, researched deeply into study abroad opportunities in different universities. But I didn't feel the allure: wasn't studying abroad too much of a hassle? A money-sucking vacuum?
However, arriving at Dartmouth, I noted the high numbers of upperclassmen who had gone abroad for a term; it struck me how casually they came up in conversation alongside internships and major choices, as if studying abroad was a must-do at Dartmouth. With a surprisingly affordable cost, relatively simple application, and an advertised focus on exploration and immersion in the location, I asked myself: why not take the chance?
There are several different types of study abroad programs at Dartmouth, all run by the Frank J. Guarini Institute for International Education.
1. Foreign Study Programs (FSP)
Foreign Study Programs, or FSPs, are run by a specific department, and allows students to go abroad and take three courses in that department. For example, one could take classics courses in Rome and Greece; African and African American Studies in Accra, Ghana; biology in Central America. The courses offered, of course, can be counted towards minors or majors.
2. Domestic Study Programs (DSP)
Similarly structured to the FSP, the Domestic Study Program allows students to study in different locations within the United States. From studying film in Los Angeles, California, to Native American and Indigenous Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one doesn't have to leave the country for a supplemented education.
3. Language Study Abroad (+) (LSA/+)
The Language Study Abroad programs are unique. They are designed to immerse students in the culture, history, and language of the country; instead of the location supplementing one's education, the location is a driving factor for the education. Therefore, these programs are run by language departments: for example, the Spanish department offers the opportunity to study in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Barcelona, Spain, or Santander, Spain.
4. Exchange Programs (EXCH)
Dartmouth even offers the opportunity to go on an exchange program with select universities across the country and the world, where a student will take classes at that institution instead of Dartmouth for a term or so, which can add to the diversity of the educational experience.
5. Guarini Study Abroad (GSA)
One more! The Guarini Study Abroad is a special type of study-abroad program that occurs during the six-week interim between fall and winter term, which teaches one course intensively for three weeks. These are a little rarer, but very intriguing opportunities. For example, last interim, there was a program that brought students to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for Vietnamese studies.
When going to the information fairs about these programs in the fall term, I was a little overwhelmed—so many opportunities, and yet, which one allured me the most?
Well, I applied to the Music department's FSP to London, which takes place in the spring term of 2024. The opportunity to delve into music for one term and watch performances live feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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.
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!
This past interim, I was part of an interfaith group that traveled to Washington DC! Houses of worship were a huge part of the trip and we were fortunate to have some wonderful tours and conversations.
