Hello there! My name is Shuyi and I'm a '23, which means it's my senior year here at Dartmouth! Follow me for my last year at Dartmouth as I reflect upon my college experience. At Dartmouth, I enjoy playing squash, eating at late night, and of course, blogging. You can ask me about studying social sciences, coming to Dartmouth as an international student, and anything else really. I hope you enjoy the blog!
I actually wasn't planning on taking this class but it eventually became my favorite class. The professor was very funny and created a relaxed classroom environment where I enjoyed looking at diversity in different contexts, such as college admissions and group dynamics.
This class was a perfect mix of philosophy, classical studies, and writing. We were able to reflect on societal views, our own ideas of optimism and pessimism, and how we can lead more fulfilling and compassionate lives.
My first experience with computer science was my Freshman winter, and I quickly became interested in the subject. I followed up CS1 with CS10 in the Spring, which I found just as cool. I love how you can solve problems by applying logic and math with computer science, and I look forward to diving deeper into the major!
Econ 21 is required for all Econ majors, and I loved my experience with Professor Gustman. He made the material super easy to digest and allowed me to take exams in my timezone, which I thought was really nice.
It was really interesting to study public speaking in an asynchronous environment, and I came away with a deeper understanding of not only public speaking but speech writing. I wrote a separate blog post about the class, so check it out!
Since English was one of my favorite classes in high school, I wanted to take another writing course at Dartmouth. This was a great choice, as it was a perfect mix of lecture and discussion. I loved reading and learning about several American dramas, and even discussing modern topics such as Trump's rhetoric!
SummerShanghai
I took my Sophomore Summer off, which many international students do, and got involved with the Tuck School of Business through the Bridge and Paganucci programs! You can read more about my summer experiences in my blogs!
This was my first class from the QSS department, which was long overdue considering that I'm a QSS major! I really enjoyed picking up some coding skills and tackling problems like transitional justice with quantitative approaches.
I took Econ 25 in the Fall, and Econ 35 was the next course in the game theory sequence! It was really fun to apply game theory to cool concepts like sports, Covid-19, and auctions.
This was my first time taking a music class even though I have been involved with music my entire life, whether that was playing the piano or learning how to make beats. I loved this class because I not only learned more about music, but more about Native culture as well!
SummerNew York
I took my junior summer off to pursue a management consulting internship in New York. I had a wonderful experience!
I absolutely loved this class! Theatre was one of my favorite classes in middle school, and so it was great to reconnect with theatre again in college. The professor was amazingly kind and passionate, and the final project was a really fun group performance!
This was a small class of around 15 people, which allowed us to have intimate discussions of readings and theatre. I loved hearing from my classmates, as we used our personal experiences to guide us in our understanding of materials. My final project was a protest on campus, which also really fun and refreshing take on performance!
After a great summer in New York that you can read about here, I'm back at Dartmouth! I'm not taking any major classes this quarter, which means I have the opportunity to explore different interests. I decided to take three classes this term, which I'll share with you all today!
First, I'm taking a Religion course called Sports, Ethics and Religion. The class discusses the ways in which sports are comparable to religion, and discusses contemporary topics such as race, politics, and gender in sports. As someone who enjoys watching sports, it's been great learning about the histories of major sports. The class is graded on discussion posts, a debate and a paper, so it involves a lot of critical thinking and communication. While I really enjoy this class, I might have believed that this class wouldn't be relevant to my post-graduate career. However, I now realize that the critical thinking and communications skills I develop in this class will be essential to anything I do!
Next, I'm taking a Theatre course called Classical and Medieval Performance. This class explores the history of classical and medieval theatre, and is the first theatre class I'm taking at Dartmouth. Although the class material and assignments are all enjoyable, what I like most about this course is that I am expanding my circles. Through this course, I have met a lot of Theatre majors who I would have never interacted with otherwise, and it's been really great learning from my knowledgeable classmates about theatre. I've also loved seeing the passion for theatre that people have, as it inspires me and my interests. The final project for this course will be a performance, which I'm excited to be a part of. I haven't acted for an audience since middle school!
Finally, my third class is an Anthropology course on Economic Anthropology. Even though I'm not taking any major courses, I decided that Economic Anthropology would be a great way for me to explore one of my majors (Economics) through a different lens. So far, the class has been exactly that. We have a lot of readings where Economists and Anthropologists discuss Economic concepts, which has been really interesting to follow. I'm currently writing a paper on the Great Resignation (a contemporary Economic movement caused by Covid-19) through the lens of anthropology, and I'm really excited to see how that turns out!
So, that's my classes this term! As you can see, your major or minor at Dartmouth doesn't dictate what you study. Even though I'm a QSS and Economics Major, none of my courses this term are in those departments! I look forward to developing my qualitative skills this term as I explore some other interests.
In Solid Mechanics, we designed and constructed a bridge that held 10kN, around 1000kg! The process, from SOLIDWORKS design to laser cutting to gluing parts together, took us weeks, but it was one of the most rewarding projects I have ever done.
Walking around the Wellelsey campus, it's clear that it was built with intentional incorporation of the surrounding nature. The architecture of many buildings were also mindfully crafted to support Wellesley's unique principles.
