Daniel Kang

My Classes This Fall!

Dartmouth's midterm season is right around the corner, and I wanted to do a quick overview of the engaging and exciting classes I'm taking this fall!

I found this poster at the Starbucks location within Hanover town. Daily compliments are often something we forget to give one another. So, I just wanted to say: you're doing great! Keep going.

CHEM 5: General Chemistry 1

As a student on a pre-medical track, I decided to enroll in a class that partially satisfies one of the medical school requirements: one year of general chemistry with laboratory. That is not to say I enrolled in this course just for the sake of fulfilling the requirement. I love chemistry for its meticulous blend of the positive aspects of both biology and physics—the two other pillars of science. Biology concentrates on conceptual ideas followed by rote memorization while physics mainly focuses on mathematical calculations. However, when learning chemistry, you are forced to apply conceptual ideas as well as implement mathematical formulas to intelligently solve given problems. From delving deep into the realms of molecular structures to traversing the different properties of the ideal gas law, I'm fascinated by what Professor Epps teaches every day.

ANTH 6: Introduction to Biological Anthropology

Anthropology was, at first, a foreign subject I didn't have a chance to encounter as a high school student. I never really understood what anthropology really even studied. So, when attending the anthropology open house—an opportunity for new students to explore diverse departments on campus prior to selecting classes—I was enraptured: I was amazed at how detailedly the subject studied humans with the utilization of a myriad of unique lenses. With this class, I'm studying one of the lenses: the biological lens. With the guidance of Professor DeSilva, we're deeply learning about human evolution, relationships between species, the biological basis behind genetics, and more. I'm also highly, I mean highly, interested in the research Professor Desilva does as well! Being a paleoanthropologist, he travels the world digging for fossils and uncovering their origins—how cool is that? As a student who enjoys both the humanities and the sciences, I believe this class perfectly satisfies my interests.

WRIT 5-19: Disability as a Rhetoric

Expository Writing is one of the first-year writing requirements every freshman needs to fulfill, and I was assigned to take it this fall. There are numerous options of Writing 5 to choose from, with each professor having a distinct passion they want to teach about. I decided to take this course with Professor Konrad, learning about how disability can be used as rhetoric. And let me tell you: this class debunked so many myths I held to be true about disabilities and disabled individuals before joining this class and enlightened me with a new perspective of the world. And it has only been three and a half weeks. We're currently in the midst of a writing project, which involves writing about a concept we found engaging from one of our readings and utilizing personal anecdotes to relate it to our own selves. Through this project, I was able to further discover myself and better define my own morals and beliefs. I'm beyond excited to see what other life-changing ideas I'll be able to learn in this class, beyond the scope of just technical writing skills.