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.
Motets, Molarity, and Ethnomethodology: My Sophomore Fall Classes!
Now that week four has come and gone, the midterm season is in full swing (I had two big tests last week)! My classes this term have been wonderfully balanced, and I'm looking forward to seeing where they'll take me as I continue trekking through the fall.
Chem 51 – Organic Chemistry I
Ah, the ever-infamous "Orgo." To continue my chemistry journey from last spring, I am taking my first-ever organic chemistry course. I'm taking it to fulfill my pre-medical requirements, but I'm also excited to learn more about the work that I've been doing in my research lab since January (after all, I want to learn the fundamentals of the discipline). It's definitely not easy—the laboratory component feels like a step up from general chemistry, with fully-fledged lab reports and our personal glassware, and the class pace feels ever faster as I learn about topics I've never really heard of before the class. Alkanes? Alkenes? Stereochemistry? And that's just the beginning!
But I know I'm not alone, and it's been great to work with classmates on figuring out the great puzzle that is organic chemistry. I hope I can keep up with the pace of the class as the term inevitably intensifies—I want to make sure I understand the material and am prepared for Organic Chemistry II this winter!
This class, we began learning about 1H NMR spectroscopy!
MUS 42 – Early Classical Music, from Plato to Mozart
There are two main Western music history classes at Dartmouth, dividing its entire history into two—from Plato to Mozart, and from Beethoven to the current day. I get to take one of these classes for the Music foreign study program to London in the spring! Before the term, I had planned to take the class covering Beethoven to the current day. After all, that era of music was more familiar to me; I thought that that's what I'd find more interesting. But as the term began, I realized that learning about music that I was less familiar with would be a more rewarding experience! I don't regret it one bit.
The class is a mix of art history and music, as we get to look at old music scores and notations, and art that matches each corresponding era. Early classical music, like medieval and ancient art, seems to exist on a different wavelength, operating under a different set of rules than our rules for music today. I've been having a great time learning about it, even if the music isn't really what I'm used to listening (Gregorian chant, I'm looking at you). I'm excited to see how music continues to evolve as we learn about the Renaissance and beyond.
For one of our assignments, we had to copy some music in notation from the Medieval Ages! As you can see, I made a few mistakes…
SOCY 1 – Introductory Sociology
Sociology is what I wanted to study the most when I applied to college! I'm not sure if that still holds completely true today as my interests shift, but I'm still very excited for introductory sociology. I've been enjoying learning about the names that have been ascribed to certain social phenomena that I've noticed in my day-to-day life. The presence of debate about different aspects of sociological theory also intrigues me. The ability to view the same phenomenon from different angles is very important, and I hope to explore that further while I'm at Dartmouth. So far, we've read and discussed a book about the institutions of college and how they affect class mobility, especially in the context of the Greek life system (feels pretty relevant to our Greek-life-heavy campus). I look forward to seeing what more there is!
The East Asian Reading Room has been a little solace of mine—a new nice place to study!
Overall, after my summer break, I've really enjoyed getting back into the process of learning! As I ponder what my major will be, I've had to reflect on what exactly I'd want to continue learning. But with such different and interesting subjects as my three classes, I've come to realize that whatever I end up choosing as my major, I won't want to stop learning about topics outside it. And I don't have to (fingers crossed)!
And learning, I'm sure, won't stop when I leave Dartmouth.
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
