Sydney Wuu

I start my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10:10 a.m. listening to jazz, pop, classical, and all sorts of genres in MUS 1, my first music class since grade school! Growing up, I played piano competitively for a while, but when I moved overseas in the sixth grade I slowly stopped playing as much to explore other activities. Professor Zsoldos, a professional saxophonist, grew up in a musical household and started figuring out melodies on the piano when he was four. He is all about inspiring a passion for music in his students, so we’ve been listening to pop songs like "You are the Reason" and more to discover what makes us want to dig into the material, using what we’ve learned to transpose the intangible forms of music into tangible sheet music. We’ve been developing our ear training abilities, distinguishing simple from compound meters, drilling our major and minor scales, and much more. I can feel my love of music coming back to life!

After Music Theory, I head to my Ecological Economics class which starts at 11:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. As an Economics and Environmental Studies double major, I absolutely love this class taught by Professor Howarth, who also instructed me in ENVS 3: Environment and Society. Professor Howarth is extremely knowledgeable about ecological economics! I took him out to lunch at Pine during my sophomore fall through Dartmouth’s Take a Faculty Member to Lunch program to learn more about what inspires him and what he does outside the classroom. During class, Professor Howarth lectures on topics like bioeconomic modeling, cost benefit analysis, fisheries management, working with Excel, nonmarket valuation, energy transitions, and environmental ethics, often bringing in our thoughts through informal class discussion. Our final assignment is to write a review essay on peer-reviewed literature on any topic of our choosing. I love this flexibility and am thinking of writing about how to incentivize energy conservation and behavioral changes through marketing, policy, and persuasion.

I’ve never taken a course in the Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies or Theater departments at Dartmouth, so this cross-listed 7-person class is my first look into studying theater and performance through an intersectional lens. We meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:20 p.m.. During the second week of the term, our class visited the Hood Museum to think about intersectionality through the arts, analyzing the paintings on the walls in the context of performance studies. Professor Edmonson is incredibly eager to help her students develop their arguments; she has made me feel confident in writing about the humanities as a social science major. During class, we sit in a circle formation and discuss assigned plays and critical essays, thinking about themes of intersectionality, disability, gender, stereotypes, and performativity. Since the class is so small, I really get to know my classmates and we have quite a range of scholars! A Physics and Theater double major and a Religion major are two examples of the diverse academic backgrounds we bring into conversation.

One of my goals for sophomore year has been to be more intentional in the ways I spend my time, and staying active with a club sport as part of the Women’s Water Polo team is a great way to relieve stress. I played water polo throughout high school, but experience is definitely not required to join the team. Around half the team came into college brand new to the sport, many swimming before but seeking a more collaborative team environment. We start practices with a swim warm-up, then move into passing, and finally drills where we practice real game situations and perhaps scrimmage. Water polo has taught me communication, critical thinking, and how to handle stressful situations gracefully. We just went down to Boston College this past weekend, where we placed second in the Women’s Collegiate Club New England/North Atlantic Divisions “A” Championship (sadly losing the final game versus BC in overtime). I try to go to the gym frequently when off season, which really helps me find a stress relief outlet as well.

I applied to this Rockefeller Center program to learn to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable, develop a deep appreciation for ambiguity, improve my cross-cultural communication, and make time in my schedule for individual reflection. I’ll be studying abroad in London this coming fall in an economics exchange program, so I want to be able to practice these skills before spending time in an unfamiliar urban capital away from Hanover, New Hampshire. The RGLP cohort meets every Monday night, enjoying catered food, guest speakers, and ample time for discussion in small table groups. During Week 2, we head to Boston for a weekend trip which you can learn more about here! Last session, our workshop allowed us to try out Capoeira, a high-energy type of Brazilian martial art that blends elements of dance, music, and acrobatics. It was a super exciting time building our group’s aché, or powerful energy and fighting spirit, as we played with the new interstruments, learned the lyrics, and danced with partners and the larger group in a circle.

I try to read the news in the form of the Morning Brew, a daily email newsletter, every morning before eating breakfast at FoCo, Dartmouth’s main dining hall. My friend Ningning also loves to eat breakfast, so we usually plan to meet up at 9:20 a.m., before my 10:10 a.m. classes, each morning. I love when FoCo has watermelon in the fruit bar and you also can’t go wrong with a classic bagel and cream cheese—such a refreshing and yummy start to the day! I used to rarely get breakfast at FoCo during my freshman year, but have found that eating three meals a day definitely makes me more productive and energetic. I’m so glad I have an amazing breakfast buddy to chat with before heading to class too.