Meet Varun Turk Jain, an incoming Pegram Dorm resident from Chantilly, Virginia. This interview is part of a summer blog series profiling one Class of 2018 member from each of the 13 East Campus dorms. Look out for the rest of the blogs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays leading up to Orientation Week.
Major: Undecided, but probably biology
Pre-orientation program: None
Summer plans: Working at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, working on a machine that divides fruit flies by gender.
Favorite type of weather: "Probably warm and sunny, but not humid."
Favorite book or literary work: "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Spirit animal: A brown bear, because they are loving and cuddly.
Guilty pleasure: Binge watching “Gossip Girl.” “Junior year was pretty bad, so to get over it late at night I would watch ‘Gossip Girl.’”
Favorite “Gossip Girl” character: “Probably Chuck Bass… he spoke to me.”
Impression from first trip to Duke: “Probably how happy everyone was. My high school was really competitive. Not that many people were happy about learning. When I visited Duke, [the students] were all very happy and passionate.”
What he will add to the Pegram community: “A smiling face. And GameCube tournaments.”
Things he’s excited to try out at Duke: “Model United Nations and consulting club — I was always interested in that but there was never a community to go to learn more about it. Also, watching basketball games.”
What he’s most nervous about: “Some of my friends have already told me horror stories about the Marketplace. My mom is a really good cook, so I’m nervous about that.”
If he could be famous for one thing, what it would be: “Mario Kart Double Dash.”
Weirdest thing he plans to pack: A drink helmet
Essential dorm decorating item: “I’m a big fan of ‘Frozen.’ For my birthday my friend got me a poster of that, so that will probably be up.”
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