Letter: A very friendly dog
As I graduate from Duke, it feels like I can’t remember much from 4 years ago. And one thing I can’t remember at all now is my former fear of dogs. I anticipated that Duke would attract a lot of dog owners and I did my best to avoid them. Walk briskly by them. Hide behind others if I had to. I just felt too nervous if I saw a dog—I couldn’t take the chance. But then I met Nugget during my first ever summer at Duke. As I was walking to Wilson Gym getting ready to bench press 150 grams, I was greeted by an overly enthusiastic Keith and Nugget, standing outside, ready for pets from every Duke student. And as I moved in and out to pet Nugget intermittently, I noticed that Nugget was unlike other dogs. She was energetic, she was smiling, but most of all, she was friendly. I felt nervous of dogs because I thought they were trying to attack me, but when I first pet Nugget, she didn’t bark. She didn’t leap on me. She just smiled and panted happily. She was just happy to see me. Happy to see everyone. Keith kept reassuring me that Nugget wouldn’t bite me. And he was right.