(upbeat energetic music)
- My name is Cheryl.
I'm a class 2018 here at Dartmouth
which means I'm a senior this year.
I'm a Bio/Music double major and I'm on the pre-med track,
so I'm hoping to apply to medical school next year.
Outside of class, I'm a fan of music.
I play the flute and I'm in the orchestra here.
I also really like powerlifting,
so I joined the powerlifting club.
I'm also doing a senior thesis this year,
so I spend a lot of my time in lab.
(energetic music)
(upbeat music)
I usually get up around 8:30 a.m.
I don't have class until ten,
but I usually do try to get into lab every morning
to start or finish an experiment before I head off to class.
After class, I usually end up coming back to lab
and I'm in lab for a couple hours.
In the evening, I usually have orchestra rehearsal
or I go to lift practice at seven.
Sometimes, I end up coming back to lab after that,
so nine p.m., I'm back in lab.
Otherwise, I just unwind after practice or rehearsal.
I'm probably in bed by midnight.
That's the usual schedule day.
- [Interviewer] So what initially drew you
to this field of study overall?
- I wasn't particularly looking
to do bioengineering when I started in this lab.
I started in this lab my freshman winter
and it was through a program the college has called WISP,
which stands for women in science programs,
or something of that sort.
It's for women and it's to help women get
connected to these stem labs that we have.
I'm a pre-med, I'm on the pre-med track.
We have a few more requirements than general biology.
For example, I have to take organic chemistry.
Actually, that might be it.
Most of the pre-med track does overlap with a bio major.
Of course there's the optional psychology/sociology track
that I can take as a pre-med as well.
- [Interviewer] How many hours a week
would you say you spend in the lab?
- Oh, gosh.
I put myself at around four to six hours a day.
Let's say four hours a day, seven days a week,
that's what? 28 hours?
- What would you say is the balance
between that and classwork?
- I plan this out.
I'm only taking two classes this year,
and the normal course load at Dartmouth
is three courses a term.
- Did you have to front-load a lot of requirements
to be able to to do that?
- I wouldn't say I front-loaded,
but I definitely did more planning
than the usual Dartmouth student does.
I came in fall term knowing exactly
what courses I was taking which term.
I think that's how I'm able to do two majors, go on an FSE,
and graduate technically a term early
which is why I'm taking next term off.
Yeah, it takes a lot of planning, but it's all doable.
There's gonna be a lot of steam coming out this way.
It shouldn't hit over there.
It's really hot.
I think every person who uses this machine
probably has the fear of being locked in one of these.
- Just falling in.
- And the machine turning on
and you literally be boiled and suctured alive.
These are big things.
They have even bigger ones that are walk-in closet sizes.
You could literally walk yourself
in there and just close it.
(laughing)
Something grim for you to think about today.
(upbeat music)
- [Interviewer] Where are we right now?
- This is Faulkner Recital Hall.
I guess it's the only recital hall we have
in the music department.
Dartmouth music department is quite small.
I think in my class there's four or five music majors.
It's not the most popular major on campus.
And the department is not the largest,
but we do have wonderful faculty, teacher, instruments.
We have a very
large orchestra and wind ensemble presence on campus.
We have both concerts once a term highly attended by
students and residents of Hanover in general.
- The orchestra that you play in,
is that completely extracurricular?
Or is that affiliated with the major?
- It's extracurricular.
I don't get any sort of credit for playing in the orchestra.
The way I see it, music is more of an outlet for me
to escape from the academic and lab and everything,
the stress of my academic life.
And just come to the music department and play.
It really is a good stress relief for me.
It gets my mind off of everything else
I have to deal with in terms of academics.
- [Interviewer] Cool, that's awesome.
(playing Flute Sonata, Undine: IV Finale by Carl Reinecke)
(energetic music)
- [Interviewer] Right now, we're not on Dartmouth's campus.
- No, we're off campus.
The powerlifting team trains at Crossfit RVC.
This is because we can't get all of our members
into the gym at Dartmouth.
- Why did you initially get involved with powerlifting?
- Actually I found powerlifting
through my highschool swim team.
When I was swimming in highschool,
they threw us in the weight room
with the boys to do some upper-body conditioning.
I somehow felt that I really liked it
even though most girls hated it.
I kept going after the season ended.
The football guys, who were also in there all the time,
taught me the rest of the lifts.
I didn't really start seriously training powerlifting
until I got onto campus here
because I didn't have regular access to a gym back at home.
So I would say freshman year is when
it really started taking off for me.
I think it's just as music is an outlet for me,
powerlifting's another outlet for me.
This is one of the more physical outlet.
It lets me release all the stress I have pent up in me.
Dropping things from above your head
is really, really satisfying.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, that's a good like stress relief.
- At least for me, yeah.
It's easy for males to walk into the gym
and go straight to the squat racks,
but I know how hard it is as a female.
I have gotten used to the amount of testosterone
just in the air you can feel there,
but I know it can be really intimidating for a lot of girls.
The easiest way is just to get a lifting partner.
Go in there with another girl, or a male friend.
Just get yourself in there, get used to it.
Don't be afraid what other people think.
Everyone started somewhere.
Don't be afraid to start from nowhere
because everyone started from nowhere.
(relaxing upbeat music)
- So, you're graduating in June.
Overall, how would you look back
on your Dartmouth experience?
- It's hard to say because you don't really know what
your experience would have been like
if you went to another school
because you don't get to redo your college years.
I guess it's bias when everyone looks back and says,
"Oh, picking Dartmouth was the best decision of my life."
Well, you don't know any other decision,
that's what you did.
But I would say Dartmouth has definitely shaped me
and given me many experiences that I'm very thankful for.
One of the biggest being it's really helped me
come out of the bubble I used to be in in highschool.
I went to a pretty sheltered highschool, I would say,
and coming here just exposed me to so many different people,
so many different cultures.
And Dartmouth really has helped me get out of my shell.
I used to be a little bit of an introvert.
I would say I can be an extrovert now,
and on the inside, I'll always still be an introvert.
But at least I'm better now at socializing with people
and getting to know people and meet new people.
- And what's been the most surprising
to you about Dartmouth?
- Definitely the diversity of everything you encounter here.
So many different types of people
with different backgrounds and different knowledges.
And people with so many hidden talents
that you don't know about till you get to know them.
It's really amazing the amount of diversity
Dartmouth draws to its campus.
- [Interviewer] What advice would you give to someone
who's about to apply to Dartmouth or probably other schools?
- Come into Dartmouth with an open mind.
And this is not just for Dartmouth,
go into any college you apply with an open mind.
Don't go to college expecting one thing
because if that's not there for you,
you may be disappointed.
If you come in and say,
"I will take whatever you throw at me."
You will have so much better an experience
during your college years.
(relaxing upbeat music)
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