We asked some new freshmen about their time at Duke so far. Here is what they had to say:
What did you think of move-in?
“The line with the cars is really long, but I just walked up to my dorm. Everyone has a lot of energy and it looks really fun. I can't wait to move in.” – Charlie Pearlman
“It’s been good, everyone was really excited. They made it really fun.” – Elena Mannion
“There’s a lot of energy. It’s pretty smooth and really fun. I’m in GA. I like the little swings outside. The inside of the dorm is pretty spacious.” – Soham Patel
“It’s been super easy. I had to help my sister move in when she went to college and [based on that], I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult than it was. The FACs were awesome, they help with everything.” – Natalie Le
“It’s been good. I liked how they had the FACs move-in. That made it a lot easier.” – Monika Dharia
“I thought having the upperclassmen help move-in was great. Everyone’s been really friendly.” – Chad Rafetto
What do you think of O-week and Duke so far?
“I think it’s a little too packed. The whole day is full. Some of it is a little excessive that I don’t think we need. I wish we had more free time.” – Eric Morgenstern
“It’s been a lot of fun. Some of the programs are a little repetitive. I wish we had more free time to actually hang out with people.” – Joshua Nugent
“They did a great job with True Blue and making it interesting and interactive.” – James Rees
“It’s been a lot of nonstop activities. It’s really tiring, but you almost don’t realize it because of how much is going on.” – Sam Klein
“I’m really impressed by the amount of support incoming freshmen get. I was really surprised by that. The FAC program seems really strong. It’s great to have all these people looking out for you.” – Will Graham
“It’s been a cool glimpse into all the opportunities Duke has to offer.” – Austin Verissimo
“It’s really overwhelming. It’s a good way to get started before school starts because you know where all the buildings are.” – Joyce Wang
“I’ve liked O-week. It’s fun getting to meet new people. I’ve liked most of the activities that we’ve had.” – Kiera Lunn
“I’ve met students from different backgrounds. I’m from China so it’s my first chance to talk with students from other places.” – Dongfang Wang
"I've really liked the FAC chats. Being in a smaller group with people who are in your dorm is really nice and makes me more motivated to talk to them." – Alli Fisher
"I think O-week was a great opportunity to meet a lot of the various people who are here on campus. A lot of people tend to portray O-week as 'you talk to people once and never talk to them again.'" – Yoon Ko
"I was at band camp the whole entire week. I thought it was very tiring but as the days progressed it helped me get disciplined. My posture also got better because of it." – Jun Hur
"I think there were way too many speeches and mandatory stuff we had to listen to that eventually got boring after a while, but the rest of it and meeting new people was great." – Alan Ko
"They definitely kept us busy. There were a lot of mandatory events—definitely got to meet new people—very enjoyable overall." – Jake Shulman
"We did a lot of stuff and some of it was really cool but there wasn't much time to do stuff we really needed to do—I needed to switch a class and get ready for the first day of class." – Bryn Hammarberg
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