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.
Like our trip to Bath earlier in the term, my Foreign Study Program class and I traveled on an all-expense-paid trip to Liverpool this weekend, partly as a weekend getaway and partly as a musically educational experience. As a die-hard Beatles fan, I was very excited to go to the birthplace of one of my—and the world's—favorite bands.
We had lunch at Strawberry Field, attended the Liverpool Beatles Museum, had a meal at the iconic Cavern Club (where the Beatles often performed), and went on the "Magical Mystery Tour," a tour of the homes and iconic locations in the Beatles' story. Here are a couple of pictures of the journey!
We visited Paul McCartney's childhood home!
A part of the iconic Penny Lane, as in the song.
Being in Liverpool really brought into perspective the dedication to music that musical artists like the Beatles had, performing a jawdropping amount of shows and practicing and writing music in their free time.
It's also a beautiful port city!
The iconic Sgt. Peppers outfits.
All in all, I'm really happy that we went on this trip, enjoying a few refreshing days as the end of the term nears.
As it approaches the end of spring term and the finale to my freshman year at Dartmouth, I am reflective of the goals I made for myself each term and how I've accomplished them.
Green Key is one of Dartmouth's major spring festivities, bringing two popular music artists to our Gold Coast Lawn. My weekend was filled with friends and fun!
What an incredible spring! This term was undoubtedly my favorite that I've experienced thus far, and as I wait to board a flight back to campus for a highly anticipated Sophomore Summer, I reflect on everything that allowed this spring term to bloom.
