Niketa Kou ’25 created a children’s book for her senior thesis to spark curiosity and encourage young readers to explore both movement and science.
A lifelong dancer from Taiwan who double majored in dance and neuroscience at Pomona, Kou worked with Jonathan T. King, director and associate professor of neuroscience, and the writing partners at the Center for Speaking, Writing, and the Image (CSWIM) on a narrative explaining the brain in a fun, accessible way.
In April, Kou self-published Move Your Body, Grow Your Brain.
“In the book, Lazy Larry goes on a journey with Nike the Neuron and learns that physical activity strengthens neural connections and encourages new ones,” she says. “It also boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain, supporting neuron health and improving memory and learning.”
As she brainstormed possible neuroscience theses, Kou drew inspiration from her time explaining complex ideas to children as a tutor. A longtime believer in the power of movement as medicine, she decided to explain the science behind her conviction.
“I thought, ‘As a kid, I would love to know these things.’”
Kou collaborated with illustrator Dahlia Wang SC ’24 to give her words life.
Across 32 colorful pages, Move Your Body, Grow Your Brain encourages young readers to explore both movement and science. Several pages include a physical activity to try and an explanation of its scientific benefit.
Kou left copies of her book with the Neuroscience Department and published a paperback version online for purchase. In the summer, she added the book to her professional website for all to read for free.
Kou’s project thesis was a natural extension of her longest hobby, dance, where she experienced—long before neuroscience gave her the language for it—how movement affects the mind and body.
While she danced ballet growing up in Shanghai, Kou fell in love with contemporary dance in high school and chose to explore the expressive, evolving genre at Pomona.
Kou started choreographing her sophomore year, a responsibility that transformed the way she thought. Beyond creative growth, she says, choreography pushed her to trust her instincts, embrace uncertainty and approach problem-solving with curiosity rather than perfectionism.
Ahead of her senior year, Kou danced in Berlin on a summer scholarship. When she returned to Claremont, she says she had a more expansive, flexible mindset shaped by movement.
“The beauty of dance is getting to slow down time and have fun, which can be hard as a college student,” she says. “Movement changed the way my mind and body responded to pressure. Dance became a space where I could reset mentally and reconnect physically.”
A medical assistant by day, Kou moonlights as a freelance dancer in and around Los Angeles.
“I’m still living that Pomona College life—balancing both sides of me,” she says.