Welcome! I'm Olivia Koo '26, hailing from Los Alamos, New Mexico. I am studying biological chemistry on the pre-med track, and I'm excited to be supplementing it with music, as a classical pianist and singer-songwriter! Some of my favorite things to do are watching YouTube videos about video games, singing and playing my guitar, and reading New York Times op-eds. Look through my page for information about Dartmouth's pre-med track, STEM research, acapella/music, and study abroad opportunities!
Unsure whether I would enjoy the biology-heavy pre-health track, I took an intro biology class. I surprisingly found myself so invested each class—I didn’t think I’d ever be excited trying to determine if the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) had DNA or RNA, but here we are! I found it a great introduction to thinking processes at Dartmouth.
I loved coming to this class with its supportive environment! The professor's feedback really helped me improve in my writing. This course guided us through personal narratives and organizational writing while discussing what it really means to be authentic. It also introduced me to the library’s resources for writing and research!
This class was definitely not easy! The accelerated version of general chemistry, it was my first class at Dartmouth that used a textbook, and I had to adapt and learn how to use a textbook for a class properly. But that didn't mean I didn't have a good time! The classes were full of physical demonstrations, and I felt very supported in the lab and beyond.
This was the first group music class I took, and I loved it! Each class we'd move a little forward in time; one day we'd talk about medieval chants, and by the next couple weeks, we talked about Baroque music. We even got to observe original medieval music scores from the Rauner Library, and attend a performance of Baroque music by the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra!
Songwriting 1 was the first time I was able to work on something creative/in the arts at Dartmouth, and I really loved it! I got to learn how to improve my songwriting and get to know a community of fellow songwriters on campus. The class was both supportive and constructive, and I pushed myself to my creative limit with the assignment of writing one new song a week. This class inspired me to continue writing and being expressive, whether in an academic setting or not.
For one of my classes on the London Music FSP, I got to attend a myriad of musical performances in London and discuss them with my class! It was a once-in-a-life-time experience–getting to watch multiple operas, ballets, jazz sets, and a musical, as well as seeing beautiful performances from the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and more, helped me grow my ear so much and my inspirations as a musician.
I took this class to learn a little more about the social landscape around medicine, and this class delivered that by a mile. From environmental exposure to racial inequities in medicine/health to the discussion of medicine itself as a manipulative tool in colonialist social structures, this class helped me rethink medicine and my role within it.
Why You Should Take A Language Course at Dartmouth
¡Hola!
Yo no pensé que aprendería español en Dartmouth, ¡pero ya casi he terminado con español tres!
I didn't think I would learn Spanish at Dartmouth, but I'm almost done with Spanish 3!
When I was going through orientation, I learned that Dartmouth created a new policy for the class of 2026 and onwards regarding the language requirement. Before the class of 2026, students had the option to be exempted from language classes altogether through prior coursework or a proof of fluency through a language test. But starting with the class of 2026, students now must take at least one language-related class. Depending on a student's level of fluency, they will take one to three classes. You can read more about it here! So, I discovered that I would have to take a language at Dartmouth, whether I wanted to or not.
I've had a long path with language; having spoken Korean with my family in my home, I had never really felt the desire to learn any more languages and found myself more interested in other subjects. But, with languages as a requirement in my high school, I experimented. I took French in middle school and Latin in high school. They were fine. I enjoyed them, but I never found the excitement or feeling of progress that I wanted to feel with learning something new. In middle school, I found reciting numbers forwards and backwards in French every day a little slow. In high school, I didn't bother to learn much of the vocabulary, leading me to slow down in my translations, looking up every word translation in the Latin-English dictionary. I was a little disappointed that I had to take another language in college, thinking that I'd be "wasting class slots" with it. Would the third time be the charm? Even if it meant I had to take three courses over three terms, I decided on a fresh start and chose Spanish as my language.
Walking into the classroom was a different experience than the other classes I had; it wasn't quite a discussion-based seminar, much less a wide lecture hall. In a small room taken up by rolling desk chairs with tablet arms, participation was the core nature of the class. I had never been in a class where the students talked so much, testing out new grammar concepts and pronunciations. As a student who wasn't too keen on raising her hand in class, it was a little intimidating.
As the terms went on, I found more to appreciate about the language class.
The language class meets often: 50-minute classes four times a week, and an extra 45-minute drill session three times a week where a student instructor gives speaking exercises that test us on vocabulary and grammar. It may have felt like a drag, but seeing my classmates so often was very helpful for my freshman year. It allowed me to get to know peers in a time when I didn't know anyone, and some of the people I met in my fall Spanish class are some of my closest friends today.
The different nature of the class itself was refreshing when taken with my other classes; I feel very lucky that I've been able to balance my first-year course load with a science class, language class, and writing-based class for each term. The variety of assignments and thinking made classes more exciting.
The fast pace has been one of my favorite parts—in the effort to get students nearly fluent in three courses, what would have been three to four years of material in high school is condensed into one. Even if it is challenging, I find it more rewarding. Looking back at the beginning of the year, I've come a long way when it comes to learning Spanish. The pace also helped me adjust to the general approach to studying at Dartmouth; there's no time to rest when learning and understanding new material. When one concept is grasped, it's on to the next one! (Last week in Spanish 3, my classmates and I were reeling from learning a new verb tense every class! We had a good time, though.)
My most recent page of notes from Spanish class!
And finally, being able to make mistakes by participating in the drill sessions and in class has been a welcome shift to my mindset. Making mistakes is natural when learning a language (or anything), and I find myself more comfortable with raising my hand and asking questions/giving answers than when I began the year—after all, the professors are there to help you improve!
I wonder how my Dartmouth experience so far would have been different without a language class, and despite my reluctance about it when I began, I wouldn't have wanted to "waste" my classes any other way.
Academics can be challenging at Dartmouth. But there are lots of groups across campus here to support you through your academic journey. Read on for my experience asking for help and a few organizations that might be helpful to you!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
