A Time to Explore and Grow

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.

PD: Why Duke?

Senior: I came down for Blue Devil Days and that was the first time I’d ever been down here. It was just a completely new experience. I came down here and it wasn’t like any school I’d ever been too. It seemed like everyone forged their own path. Here everyone was like “I do x, y, and z activity, I’m this double major, and I’m in an a cappella group.” Maybe you can say that about other colleges, too, but it was very apparent to me in that one visit that it was something very different and new that I could explore and grow through.

PD: And before Blue Devil Days what was it exactly that drew you to apply?

Senior: At least for me, it was easy to settle in terms of my major and the activities I’m involved in. There was so much that I didn’t explore over four years. Especially freshman year; you go to the activities fair, you stop by every other booth, you put your name on the listserv – but how many do you actually follow up with? I wish I had taken that chance instead of just sticking with what I knew.

PD: If you had to give advice to someone who’s a freshman about how to make sure that that doesn’t happen to them, what would you tell them?

Senior: Regardless of the things that you were good at in high school or the extracurriculars that you did in high school, just try something new and get out there. The people you meet or a connection you make or something that you get interested in - you don’t know where that’s going to take you.

PD: What would you say has been the biggest positive surprise at Duke?

Senior: I think you come into college with certain stereotypes or expectations like “oh, I got to go out, I got to get these grades, I got to be in these social circles.” It took me a while to realize this but it’s not about that at all. The people that I respect the most at Duke are the people who are doing really cool things and exploring their passion. I didn’t expect that. I just expected that you either got good grades or were a fratstar [laughing].

PD: What were you most excited about coming into your senior year?

Senior: I think it is the culmination of all the lessons and connections that you’ve made over the past three years. Maybe freshman and sophomore year you associate with a group and try to find your bearings, junior year you go abroad and you’re a little more open, but once senior year comes around everyone’s kind of like, “Hey, this is that last shot at it.”

PD: What were you most nervous about coming into your senior year?

Senior: I was most nervous that I would neglect any last opportunities. You know, the last time to hang out with certain people, the last…well, Midnight Breakfast is a stupid one cause nobody goes to that [laughing]. It’s the whole complacency thing again; the fear of missing out on an opportunity that I won’t have in college again.

PD: Favorite memory of senior year so far?

Senior: Probably the Syracuse tailgate. It was such a beautiful day, and when we came upon K’Ville everyone was there and everyone was excited. There was nothing dividing us. Everyone was enjoying not only rallying around the team but also rallying around Duke. There is a feeling of “this is who we are, this is what we do.” That’s something I’ll remember for a while.

PD: Worst memory of senior year?

Senior: Hmmm…What would be the worst memory? I don’t know. It’s been a good year [laughing]. Nothing tragic has happened to me. I guess when everyone was super stressed. I kind of knew the direction I was going in in terms of jobs and stuff. But when other people elevated that to the point of being really miserable, I felt bad about that.

PD: What are you most proud of from your time here?

Senior: At least of the people I’ve associated myself with and [probably with] Duke students in general, everyone has grown and been pretty resilient. Yeah, you might have had a set back where you failed a test or got dumped. But everyone keeps plugging along and really finding out what they can do better, what they can do next. I guess those are the kind of kids that Duke admits. But also, it’s cool to be around those people because it has inspired me to do better in my daily struggles. I think that’s pretty unique.

PD: What are you sad to leave behind?

Senior: Oh, man. There’s so much I’m sad to leave behind! I love meeting people and sure, I’m always going to meet people in life. But I’m worried that going forward, you meet people through work, you get married and you meet people through your wife’s friends, [but that’s about it]. I don’t think I’ve ever met more different people and random connections than I have here and that’s awesome.

PD: What are you most excited for as you leave?

Senior: No homework, which is sweet [laughing]. On a more philosophical level, hopefully there is a little less uncertainty. I don’t if that’s true. Hopefully a lot of us will have found the thing that we want to do and are closer to that so there will be a little less of just looking ahead and being able to appreciate where we are. I definitely don’t think we do enough of that right now.