Hello, 你好! My name is Tao; I'm from New York City, and I'm a proud first-generation student. I'm currently interested in studying Math, Economics, and Philosophy. I love being immersed at campus–especially aesthetic Woccoms and soaking in the nature in the Upper Valley. Come one, come all: let me take you along!
As the name describes, this class taught me all about food! While the class is centered on teaching academic writing skills, I have definitely learned a lot about fun topics like food diversity, ethical farming, and culinary significances. For my final project, I got to write about how sauces relates to our society!
This intermediate course focuses on algorithms and object-oriented programming in Java. As someone new to coding before Dartmouth, I found it intuitive—CS10 taught me to approach coding with a clear framework. I even got to train a program to detect parts of speech using a machine learning algorithm based on the Viterbi algorithm and Markov models.
This was my first math course at Dartmouth! While challenging at times, I appreciated how accessible the professor was during office hours. I learned how linear algebra applies to the real world—from Google’s search algorithm to physics and JPEG image compression. At its core, the course is a study of data and information stored in spaces of varied dimensions.
At Dartmouth, we're each sorted into one of six residential housing communities—a system that feels almost Harry Potter-esque. One of my favorite parts about living in East Wheelock is how our program coordinator regularly hosts incredible cooking events every week or two. They're called "Taste of [insert country]"—a rotating culinary series that brings the world to the Brace Common, our shared lounge space that features a whole kitchen. So far, we've traveled through "Taste of Provence," "Taste of Thailand," and even celebrated a cozy "Fall Fest."
During "Taste of Provence," for instance, our tables overflowed with ingredients: juicy chicken thighs, tender steak, fresh herbs, and cooking wine for our Chicken Provençal* and Daube Provençale*. There were meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board, hard but delightful nougat candies for dessert, and an impressive spread of apple-almond pie, carrot cake, and crusty loaves of bread.
Once everything was cooked and plated, we draped a white tablecloth across the dining table, arranging the dishes like a feast straight out of a French countryside home (the program coordinator even brought back a stem of lavender from Provence, when she travelled).
It's small moments like these, where I can step out of class and immediately join a communal kitchen full of laughter, sizzling pans, and the smell of delicious food, that make me deeply appreciate Dartmouth's housing system.
Our mini cooking event with catered Thai curry and Noodle events (not featured: fried plantains and mango sticky rice)
*Note: French Dish (Provence) usually features searing meat like chicken or steak, then braising it in a sauce with vegetables and herbs, oftentimes finished in the oven.
A reflection on how Dartmouth offers countless ways to stay connected to literature and writing—even as a side passion—through blogs, courses, campus publications, and creative communities.
