In the midst of the many debates, philosophical issues and heated discussions that fill our daily lives at Duke, we often forget to take a moment to simply reflect on our time here. The goal of this blog is to remind us that regardless of your major, your GPA or your opinions on the current campus hot topic, your time at Duke is made up of much more than any one of things. These four years are an experience and a journey full of great moments and some difficult ones as well. In this blog series, I hope to provide you with a few perspectives from some anonymous seniors on their time at Duke. My goal is not to convince of you any particular message or theme. What you take from this is entirely up to you.
Philip Doerr: Why did you want to come to Duke? What was most appealing to you and what were your main reasons for wanting to come to school here?
Senior: I think it was largely a function of visiting here. I came in the spring my senior year of high school, and I went out. I had never gone out much in high school. I remember walking through Few Quad and there was music coming from everywhere. It just seemed like everyone was hanging out together and like people were having a great time and they loved Duke. There was also a Kid Cudi concert that weekend, and he was just the man in that time period. So I came and I loved it and I knew that it was a great education.
PD: What has most surprised you about this school in a positive way?
S: I think the biggest surprise has been how willing professors are to connect with you on an individual level. And secondly, the [vast] opportunities to go abroad that are funded. Paying for my own, I would never have had enough money to go [so many places]…But Duke made that possible so I really feel like I got to see the world while I was here.
PD: What would you say has been the biggest disappointment for you at Duke?
S: People do kind of section themselves off into groups [after first semester] and they use those groups as a basis for forming their own personal identity. And once they have that “okay this is who I am, this is who I’m associated with” [mentality], they’re much less inclined to go out and spend time with people from other groups—which I think is a real shame. It’s not really ‘til junior year when people come back from abroad and senior year when people are willing to start looking outside of those groups again. But when they do I think it’s really a great thing. I also think that people do put a lot of pressure on where they’re going next year, and use that as a tool of basically saying “this is what I’m worth” and then comparing it to other people based solely on the prestige of that item. People almost use it as currency.
PD: If you had to think of one specific favorite memory of senior year so far, what would it be?
S: I would say definitely the snow days. Three days of just not checking e-mails, going out in the snow and playing, building huge snowmen, having snowball fights, sledding. Being able to live out all those snow day fantasies that I always had as a kid.
PD: Worst memory of senior year?
S: Probably when interviews and stuff were going on—just waking up every single morning at 7:30 a.m., drinking coffee and putting on a suit.
PD: As a senior, looking back, if you could choose one thing to have done differently at Duke, what would it be?
S: I think I would probably have gotten a statistics minor [both laugh]. I think everyone should get a statistics minor because it helps in every realm of life. And then I think I would have looked at developing a few more faculty relationships. I also think I would spend a lot less time doing extracurricular activities, like clubs and stuff, because I’ve been realizing now that I didn’t get nearly as much benefit from them as I thought I would.
PD: What are you most sad to leave behind?
S: Really easy access to friends. People are always just a phone call and a mile away.
PD: What are you most excited for?
S: I think a common sentiment among seniors, especially after your internship before senior year, is that you become more interested in producing things that are not just going to be read by a professor or a TA but are actually going to make some type of impact. I think it’ll be exciting to make that next step. I’m also really looking forward to having an address where I can get The Economist shipped permanently and then being able to start planning for retirement [both laughing].
PD: What are you most proud of as you are about to leave Duke?
S: I think I really did learn a lot when I was here, both in an academic sense and in a personal sense. You know, I came to Duke and I wanted to explore new areas and I think was able to do that. I’m able to say that I am a distinctly different person than the day I came here.
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