The independent news organization of Duke University
Amy Fan is a Trinity sophomore. Her column, "fangirling," runs on alternate Wednesdays.
When entire subcultures of Duke are built around a shared interest in acquiring specific skills and becoming employed, the humanistic aspect of an education seems to be lost and instead become a collective group of hammers looking for a nail.
About 21 percent of students in the Class of 2018 pursued a double major, but some overlaps were much more common than others.
What are the classes I would have dared to take, the people I would have dared to reach out to for help, the conversation I would have dared to have?
Nationally, the median public school student attends a school where 51.7 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. At Duke, the median is 19.39 percent.
In order for all students to flourish, we need to support each other first and foremost. After we all finish studying for their next midterm, that is.
Duke University officials noted that if students are frustrated with the model, they are free to leave the school and return back to their local charter school.
Essentially, the app removes the whole step of actually having to meet people—it lets the existing members judge rushees’ appearances and personalities from afar.
This is a plea to acknowledge that there is often a direct tradeoff between diversity and comfort, a plea that deeply authentic relationships exist at this campus, even if it may not seem that way on the surface.
What's important is having these conversations, hard as they might be, so that they eventually get easier.
But even knowing this, I still hesitate to leverage every network that is afforded to me and complain to my roommate about creating a LinkedIn profile that fleshes out everything I’m doing. I'm still working on making eye contact and navigating a conversation smoothly. I’m still beginning to understand what conversation topics are appropriate and how long a pause should be to feel natural.
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