Hooks knows that people may think she is ruining her life, but she always said that if she ever got pregnant, she would keep the baby.
"It's not bad; it's so amazing," Hooks said in an interview in the Bryan Center. "There's a baby inside of me, living off me. A lot of the incredibleness of being pregnant gets lost in the OI can't believe you're pregnant.'"
As a user of birth control pills, pregnancy was not in the immediate plans of Hooks or her boyfriend of two years.
"I first realized two days before I came back from Christmas break," Hooks, a native of Laguna Beach, Calif., said. "It was definitely a surprise. I didn't think it was a possibility. Then, I basically needed to figure out how I was going to do this when I got back to school."
When Hooks returned, she confided in several of her friends the night before classes resumed. She told them she would keep her baby and added that her decision was not religiously motivated.
"When Cassie told me that she planned on keeping her baby, I didn't know what to say," Hooks' friend senior Silas Holland said. "I knew that I should probably congratulate her, but all I could think was OHow is she going to keep it? What about law school? Is she getting married now?' At that point, I was definitely more prepared to take her to an abortion clinic and help support her through that ordeal."
Holland's reaction is common, according to Hooks. "Its amazing how many people would drive you to the abortion clinic, but it's hard for them to understand why I don't want to be driven to the abortion clinic," Hooks said. "I want to be in it for the long haul."
Hooks said she does not look down on other people who have made different decisions; she said she is doing what is best for her.
"The culture isn't supportive, which is normal because we're in an environment where the last thing on people's minds every day is having children--it's more like education, having fun and going out," she said. "Getting pregnant is sort of a glitch."
Duke does not keep statistics on the number of students who become pregnant or who have abortions, but Hooks said she has spoken to women who were in similar situations; most chose to have an abortion or leave campus and have the baby, she said.
"Especially on a campus like Duke, I think that most people believe that abortion is the only option if a girl gets pregnant," Holland said. "People here are very intense and have a clear set of goals that they want to achieve by a certain time. Having a baby definitely changes those plans, but it doesn't mean that you have to give up your dreams."
Having reworked her schedule so she could finish her coursework this summer, Hooks will graduate early, before her baby is born in September. "I'm walking in May," said the women's studies major and political science minor. "I'm currently in five-and-a-half classes. I'm taking classes and the LSAT during the first summer session, and at the end of June I'm completely done."
After the first session, Hooks will move in with her parents in California.
"I'm not sad to be missing a year at Duke," she said. "Most of my friends are seniors. It's also just what I have to do. I'm so lucky to be able to graduate a year early and be home and not have to deal with being alone when I have the baby."
She plans to apply to law school over the summer and seek a job with a legal firm at the beginning of 2002, while she waits to hear back from law schools. Her first choices are schools close to home.
Eventually she would like to move in with her boyfriend, who is several years older than she is. "He's very supportive and so excited," Hooks said. "He's working, and we're planning on moving in together sometime before law school."
They might get married one day but not in the immediate future. "We have more than enough to deal with," Hooks said. "No shotgun weddings for me."
Despite her course overload and pregnancy, Hooks has attended her classes and followed a normal routine. She started to tell everyone about her pregnancy once she started showing.
"I bought maternity clothes over spring break," she said. "People started noticing."
Hooks said that in general, people do not understand her decision, but they have been supportive.
"The reaction here hasn't been negative, just surprised," she said.
Hooks wants Duke women to know that they have options if they do become pregnant.
"They can keep a baby if they want to," Hooks said. "People would support you more than you would ever imagine. It may sound unrealistic, but don't let anyone ever tell you what you should or shouldn't do."
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