My transition from high school to Duke University
Since receiving my acceptance letter in April, Duke had become many things in my mind: opportunity, education, the culmination of my past, and the making of my future.
Since receiving my acceptance letter in April, Duke had become many things in my mind: opportunity, education, the culmination of my past, and the making of my future. Only once I arrived on campus, weighed down by a trunk I’d lugged from Texas, did Duke become my school, my new home. It was certainly an adjustment, but I loved it. I loved sitting outside on my dorm’s bench. I loved the sense of community of living with the freshman class on East Campus, the elegant libraries stacked with books, the chapel that stands beautifully against every variation of the North Carolina sky.
From chemical thermodynamics and atomic orbitals to the literature of Julio Cortázar and Senel Paz, I learned a lot in my first semester. Though four classes didn’t seem like much compared to the eight AP classes I took my senior year of high school, I found that college courses really immerse you in the material. chemistry was challenging; the lectures were large, the four-hour labs draining, and the problem sets long, but I could feel myself slowly understanding at a molecular level. I wasn’t just memorizing, I was applying, rationalizing, and, most importantly, understanding.
In addition to chemistry, I took Spanish literature. I remember feeling lost the first class. The conversation felt like rapid-fire Spanish. This wasn’t a YouTube video: I couldn’t slow down the speed or put on the captions. This was real, and I was going to have to jump in and brush off my Spanish skills as I went. I’m glad I did. Not only were the stories, poems, and artwork rich in history and insight, but I began to grow more comfortable speaking Spanish. A whole new world, a new perspective, opens when you begin to read, write, speak, and think in another language.
My other two classes were part of my freshman seminar, which Duke requires of all freshmen. I applied for the FOCUS program, two seminar classes centered around a common theme where you live and take classes within your focus. My focus group was humanitarian challenges. I enrolled in the program because as someone interested in environmental science I wanted to find my voice and learn to be a powerful, effective advocate for change.
We had guest speakers from various non-profit and humanitarian groups like Doctors Without Borders come speak about effective activism and aid. It made me think about the complexities of where our money goes when we donate, how we decide who needs aid and who receives it. After grappling with these complexities, reading a stack of books on social movements around the world from the U.S., to India, to Iran, and writing and giving my own mini Ted talk at the end of the semester, I realized the power of the individual to inspire positive change. I found my voice. I realized my voice was like an instrument — I just had to dust it off and start playing.
Immersing myself in Duke’s diverse and expanding campus, I think I learned as much outside the classroom as I did within. I volunteered regularly at Duke Campus Farm, learning the art of composting and the importance of local, organic, and sustainable ways to nourish the community. Much of the food grown a Duke Farms goes to student dining halls. Piling lettuce on my plate that I harvested a few days ago, I was connected to my food in a way I wasn’t before. As a Green Devil, I dove into issues of environmental justice around North Carolina, focusing on the hazardous waste of hog farms and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline running through lower-income counties in NC, both contaminating local water sources. Some things I learned just for fun. I learned how to salsa dance on the chapel steps one night. Another weekend I took a painting class; The campus is truly what you make of it.
Halfway through my second semester, I feel even more engaged in the academic life at Duke. My classes this semester include biology, marine megafauna (which took us down to the Smithsonian’s Ocean Hall and Duke’s marine lab), an environmental humanities class, and Writing 101, which all freshman are required to take in addition to the first-year seminar. Class sizes vary; biology is a huge 400-person lecture while the rest of my classes are 15–30 students. This summer I will be in Costa Rica for two months on a DukeEngage program, immersive programs around the world where students serve and partner with local communities. In Costa Rica, I’ll be planting trees every day as part of a larger reforestation effort and conducting research on forests established by previous groups. There are countless opportunities and experiences at Duke, the hard part is choosing!
Kendall is a content creator at Mascot. She is studying Environmental Science and Policy at Duke University.
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