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.
And in the blink of an eye, my experience with Sophomore Summer comes to a close.
Sophomore Summer, for me, was a quiet term. It may have been a different experience for me than other students, given the quarter's reputation as one with off-campus adventures and summer escapades, but I enjoyed the slower pace of the quarter compared to the usual breakneck speed. With less people on campus, and classes that I enjoyed thoroughly, I found myself content to explore things that I usually wouldn't have been able to in a typical term. Here are some highlights of the "things I usually don't get to do in a normal term" that I got to do this summer!
1. Pickleball class
When choosing a PE credit to complete over the summer term (three are required to graduate), I thought that pickleball would be a safe pick. As a tennis player, I had rather low expectations coming into a pickleball class…how much more fun could it be than tennis? But getting to play pickleball for an hour, twice a week, was a more refreshing experience than I expected it to be. I got to know some new peers, and gained a camaraderie with my pickleball partners when we won games. I'll miss pickleball in the fall, and I'm looking forward to the next new experience I can try with a PE class in the future.
2. Summer Dance
I've mentioned the summer dance groups before on my page, but I truly believe it will be some of my most cherished experiences from this term. Getting to improve in dancing with my fellow members, learning formations, and performing to the rest of the sophomore class was such a fun experience, and it's inspired me to continue seeking out dance where I can.
Our final show ended with a blast!
3. Having a PINE meal with my professor
For the first time since my first-year fall quarter, I invited my English professor to a paid meal at the PINE restaurant in Hanover! As Dartmouth provides vouchers for students to invite their professors for a meal, I, and a couple of my classmates, invited them to lunch. It was a wonderful experience, getting to know the professor more and my classmates, too!
Overall, Sophomore Summer felt like a transition from the beginning of my Dartmouth experience to the second half; I feel that I got some time to reflect on what my next path forward may look like at this school. I hope that I can take these experiences from my sophomore year and summer and contribute them to my junior year, which is only a couple weeks away!
Curious as to what Greek Life is like at a college where 50% of eligible students are part of at least one Greek organization? Read on to learn about my experience with sorority recruitment!
