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!
Between classes, extracurriculars, and social activities, life at Dartmouth can become busy really quickly. However, it's still important to give back to the community when we can, which is why Dartmouth offers a lot of service opportunities. What's special about the service opportunities at Dartmouth is that they can be fun, supportive and a great place to meet new friends or hang out with current ones! Therefore, I thought I'd share a few that I've seen (or participated) in so far.
First, service can be as accessible as joining a club. At Dartmouth, there are service-oriented clubs such as Social Impact Non-Profit Consulting, which works with non-profit organizations and social enterprises. Furthermore, even seemingly non-service related clubs can offer opportunities to help impact the community. Last year, the Dartmouth Asian Organization held a fundraiser for a few Asian charities by selling food from local Asian restaurants!
Of course, doing service can extend far beyond the clubs on campus. Opportunities open to all students range from supporting The Fifty, a Dartmouth tradition where students hike for 54 miles over the course of around 30 hours, to donating blood for the Red Cross. Service can also be a great social activity, as my fraternity offers a service event almost every week in cooperation with various groups on campus. Last week, we played charity volleyball games for local organizations while this week we'll be baking cookies for children with the DREAM organization. These activities are not only a great way to catch up with brothers, but we usually get other student group organizations involved as well, so it's a great chance to meet new people!
When I first thought about service in college, I had the idea that it would either have to be a large commitment or nothing at all. However, I've been happily surprised to see how many students around campus get involved with service activities, regardless of what they want to pursue after Dartmouth. Although service can be as short as spending a Friday afternoon going on a National Eating Disorder Awareness Walk (which is coming up soon!), it's a great way to give back to the community and expand your perspectives. Like most things at Dartmouth, service, in general, is a super accessible space that's there as much as you want it, and it can be social, outdoorsy, active, or none of the above! Whatever the case, it feels great to give back to the community.
Who wouldn't want to do a charity walk in this weather?
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
