HARVARD EDUCATION COURSES

  This past semester, I found myself organizing a hackathon. Me, a premed student with little to no coding experience? -- yes!  To those who may not be familiar with the concept of a hackathon: A hackathon is an opportunity for people to dedicate 24-48 hours to solving a problem about, quite literally, anything. It's a space where people can immerse themselves in a project they're passionate about for a weekend, with some even forgoing sleep for the duration of the hackathon! At the end of the 24-48 hours, people pitch their solutions/projects to a panel of judges, and awards are given to the top teams or individuals. Sometimes hackathons can be themed, or have different categories like fintech, AI, VR, robotics, social good, etc.  There are also health/bio themed hackathons that rely on computational biology tools and bioinformatics to tackle diseases. Tech is becoming increasingly important for the advancement of medicine, especially with the rise of AI. There is softwa...

  Xin chào! That means “hello” in Vietnamese, and it was one of the first words I learned while studying a language here at Harvard!  Due to  Harvard’s Language Requirement , many students take one year of a language course—though some go on for longer while others learn multiple languages simultaneously! There are some exceptions to this requirement, such as the option to use a relevant AP credit. But even if you test out, you should still consider learning a language at Harvard. Hopefully, my experience can illustrate some reasons why!  Something Different  My current schedule is packed with 3 STEM-heavy courses, so it is refreshing to think about something different for a change. In fact, I often “procrastinate” on my coding homework to instead review flashcards on Quizlet!  Connecting with Culture  Language courses are more than just vocabulary and grammar; they are vessels into entirely new worlds. I am personally Vietnamese-American, so it has be...