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!
Coming into my first winter term at Dartmouth, I wasn't sure how I was going to spend my weekends. I realized that in the fall, I spent a lot of Sunday afternoons hanging out with my friends on the Green, which wouldn't be an option in the winter. Therefore, I applied for TuckLAB over winterim, a free program available to all undergraduates hosted by the Tuck School of Business. TuckLAB provides students with business and entrepreneurial skills, and it's designed to allow you to pursue your interests, meet new people, and take classes from Tuck professors!
So far, I've been able to learn about marketing strategy, business analytics, and more. What's awesome is that these skills have already been useful to me in my life. For example, I recently learned how to do spreadsheet modeling from a great Tuck professor as part of the program. Later that week, while I was designing a presentation for my Macroeconomics class, I realized I could design a spreadsheet to better communicate my ideas. Without TuckLAB, I would have never been able to produce a beautiful spreadsheet, but I was able to look at my notes from TuckLAB and produce a great spreadsheet that my class loved.
A great lecture on group dynamics and teamwork
At TuckLAB, I've also enjoyed working on a start-up with some friends, competing with other start-ups in the program. My group's project is designed for neurologists and allows doctors to better understand the patient's brain during seizures by using electric impulses and machine learning. It's super interesting to learn about the financial aspects of this project, as we develop 2-minute pitches, product development, and more! All of this is guided by graduate students and graduate professors, so it's super cool to gain valuable insight from people I usually wouldn't interact with. Finally, most of our group work is done during dinner, so TuckLAB offers us great meals as we develop our start-ups. Free food is always a plus!
I always gush about how many opportunities Dartmouth students have available to them, and TuckLAB is just one example of them. The program is completely free, even though hours of planning and work have obviously been dedicated to it. Since it's voluntary, all the students and professors involved in the program are passionate and dedicated, and it's been a really positive experience for me so far. I can't wait to see what other lessons I take from the program, and how far my group develops our start-up.
Now, as I'm wrapping up the last days of my freshman year in college (UNBELIEVABLE), I want to share some things that I learned throughout my first year here as well.
There is no "the" thing you should be stressing over doing between your first-year and sophomore years. It's about what you need and what will bring you fulfillment.
Despite the vast ocean that separates me and my dream school, I applied to Dartmouth College as an international student from Bangkok, Thailand in the early decision round. This wasn't just a leap of faith, I assure you.
I tend to get bored of places really easily, but I have yet to run out of different rooms in the library! Here are some of my favorite study spots at Dartmouth :)
A great lecture on group dynamics and teamwork
