Busy, Busy Day

Day 2: Duke University.

Woke up, had breakfast in the marketplace, the usual. Lucky for me, my first class was not until 10:45, so I did some laundry, cleaned up a bit and headed to the Ark Dance Studio.

Modern Dance I.

Not at ALL what it sounds like. hahahaha.

We did a bit of yoga, pranced in the air, froze in dramatic poses through and over each others bodies, walked and ran to the beat of the timpani drum played by a man in the corner. I thought that day one would be a little less of a workout. haha. Was I wrong.

I enjoyed it, though. I did. It was different for sure. My favorite part was doing what back in MC band we called the "jazz run." That was a little bit more natural for me with my clarinet background. :)

Speaking of band, I really miss it. Not here though. I really miss Madison Central's band and that family. Just as I began thinking about missing them, I got a text from Judson that made my day.

Calculus Laboratory. Probably the most mind-blowing thing I've ever had to do. We worked in groups. I sat with three Asian boys, Dayvid, Johnny, and Ban. They were interesting. I learned how to kind of use a TI 83...kind of. at least enough for our lab today. Math, Chem, and most subjects here are not like the usual. EVERYTHING is application just about. Tests are supposedly what we haven't seen in class but could use what we learn to solve..lab is scenario based. Everyone, no matter who their teacher is gets the same test/examination. Goal of Duke: learn, don't memorize. Formula memorization is the path to failure. We actually have to write about math. Expression and communicating ideas is the only understanding. Little did I ever actually know.

It's all about the life of the mind.

I love it. No matter how hard. I think I'd be willing to make C's if I walk out of here in four years feeling accomplished about the way I approach things.

I have to ask for help. a lot. I've learned that's encouraged around here. Teachers stress that we are the best resources. Each other. Work together outside of class. Three hours for every one hour of class.

Speaking of, it's about time to start on that. haha.

I got back to my dorm after my physical therapy and dinner to find my small dorm eating cake and ice cream in the common room for our RA's birthday. My dorm is the smallest one on campus, away from all the others. It looks like a house actually. We're all pretty close because there are only like...50 or so of us out of the over 6,000 on campus. My class: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6497479&id=68215333697&ref=fbx_album

Classes: Day 1

Today was my first day of classes at Duke. My first class was 8:45 AM Math 31 in West Duke on East Campus. Confusing. I woke up to eat breakfast in the Marketplace and bolted across the lawn to West Duke Building realizing it was two minutes past the time class started. No worries.

I walked in. My professor is a grad student from South Korea. Though it was hard to understand him for the most part, I did not for some reason feel stressed by the upcoming semester. So good, so far.

The hottest day I've experienced yet. I stopped by a booth for a Loco Pop. (Locopops.org) It's the thing around here...found only in this NC area... Loco Pops. We also like Ben and Jerry's shops, I've noticed. I couldn't decided what flavor to get...Mexican Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Apricot Amaretto, Cherry Lime, Mango Chile, Cucumber Chile..I had never seen such a variety of flavors. I asked the man about the pops..some were cream based..some water based.

Sweating from the awful heat, I couldn't decide..so I got one of each. The apricot amaretto and the cucumber chile. They were amazing. Different. For sure. The cucumber chile had ACTUAL cucumber..and ACTUAL chile..not just flavors. Completely different than the popsicle I expected. But I loved it; my first Locopop experience. Rather exciting.

I then spent way too much time looking for the Student Health Center to make an appointment. It turns out it's behind the entire school..

My next walk was towards Science Drive for my Chemistry Class. At first I was worried because I couldn't find the building. I asked a grad student, and she led me through the scenic trees, up concrete steps into the building. Awful building. The grad student said the lovely scenic route had to make up for the ugliest building on campus. haha.

Four chem professors stood at the front of the room waiting for students to arrive and quiet down. It made me rather nervous, for at first none of them smiled.

The class is taught by two of the four professors. The lab is administered by one. The fourth does actual demonstrations...like exerting enough pressure on a cotton ball to ignite a flame.

We'll see how the next few days go in there....

Next stop, endurance swimming. I ran out of Chem 31 up the hill towards Wilson gym. Be reminded, it is the hottest day I've felt here.

Endurance swimming. What can I say other than I have never taken swimming, never learned how to properly swim. Intense. One word. The class consists of 12, mostly guys, AT LEAST twice my size. A little much intimidating. On the other end of the pool, competition divers flip once...twice...three times..four...splash..from a diving board at least 25 feet in the air.

I made it through.

I stayed at the Wilson gym to get my cardio in on the elliptical for about half an hour, ending my workout for the day with a kiwi, smoothie, water, and a shower. To be honest, there was no point in showering..as soon as I got back outside, I began perspirating again.

I pushed my way through the mobs of students onto a hot, cramped bus to get back to East campus. Everyone smelled awful. I smiled though. This was so different for me...but there have been so many moments in my past week here that I can't help but smile. It's the experience. Whether it's trying out a local favorite restaurant, taking the bus, meeting new people, walking across campus, driving through Durham/Raleigh...

I got back to my humid dorm and cleaned up a bit, attended a dance minor information meeting, went to dinner to meet an Indian girl and two others. I followed along with them to the Duke Forever Block Party, got a Class of 2014 directory, took a bus to West to use the computer. I dropped out of music and movement after the info session and signed up for Modern Dance I which meets tomorrow afternoon.

I believe now..it's time to get started on homework and laundry... :)

One day down.

"I am a human being; nothing human can be alien to me."

Today, I had a remarkable opportunity as a Duke student. I sat in the beautiful Duke Chapel on West Campus awaiting the arrival of Dr. Maya Angelou.

She began singing in a chant-like voice, calming the murmur of Duke's Class of 2014. Her first audible word, "I am a human being; nothing human can be alien to me."

Her voice was soothing. In my experience, the most empowering speakers are those that are able to speak directly to the audience...in a very, very personal tone..as if you, alone, are the one they are speaking to. I knew from the start she was a natural speaker.

She began by speaking about why we, my class, was at Duke, and why she was there to speak to us. She had something to say. "I am a human being; nothing human can be alien to me."

She told us we were at Duke to drop ignorance, to leave it behind, to make the most of everything here...each language we would take, each subject developed...all devices, mere devices..developed by the human race. We were all human beings.

It felt strange..it's like she was speaking directly to each one of us, individually. She said, "..if you are tall or short...black or white...fat or thin...pretty or plain...if you are from California...."... "...if you have Hindi roots from Bombay and came from Mississippi.." my eyes widened. "Me?" I thought. Surely, she could not have known, but the coincidence drew me in. I'm sure countless others felt the same.

She spoke to us about the greatness of Duke and the way she looked at us as the "rainbow in the clouds." She told us she was not here to recruit us because she knew the value of our education at Duke. She teaches at a university, and when she speaks around the country, other universities beg her not to recruit their students...but Duke is not the same.

She told us to befriend the librarian. To find a poem that we could live by...find something within us..something to write in our notebooks..to ease our minds before a test...

She recited my favorite poem, Invictus, which she said she recited to her son every night when he was young. When he went through surgery, he made her recited it to him. As she spoke and echoed through the Chapel, the cadence in her voice brought me chills.

Everything she said...was filled with eloquence and wisdom...it was empowering. An understatement. I can't even describe.

On my mind

...I learned a couple of things in the past 24 hours...

1. College kids do not sleep. Music and running in the hallways at four in the morning...I don't know when it stopped. It seems people don't really wake up here until 11 PM to start their day.

2. Girls don't flush the toilets very often. I like to assume it's an effort of conserving water.. :/

I'm really nervous about classes Monday. I heard about the intensity of it and the grading system today.

I need air conditioning.

Four Days Later..

Today, I got the chance to wander a little more than usual. I woke up early to attend the pre-health session on West Campus, and I missed breakfast but made some cafe au lait for the walk there.

After the pre-health session, I went to the True Blue information session. We learned about many of the dangers on campus and ways to reduce risks. They made it very interesting, and even humorous at times, so the two hours didn't seem too long.

What I liked best about the session was how often they stressed the resources available on campus...the women's center, the health center, the counseling center, the wellness center...available at any time for any reason. There are specialists that help cope with stress, sleeping disturbances, time management...there's just so much. Just knowing that alone is a de-stressor!

I drove to Fayetteville Drive for a bit and found myself at the mall in Verizon Wireless. I walked through the mall, got a fan for my non-air-conditioned dorm, got a GIANT almond biscotti with toasted almond coffee.

I walked around Bryan Center on West, through the bookstore and coffeeshop...I felt overwhelmingly excited for some reason...everything had a duke logo on it...I got a desk calendar...with the Duke Seal "Eruditio et Religio" on it, a planner, some note cards, my first textbook (which was definitely a little nerve racking) and a notebook, all with the seal. I was beginning to feel like a proud Duke student.

Upon returning to campus, we had to meet with out FAC for lunch. We tried this college favorite Mexican restaurant called Cosmic. It's very small and reputably "sketchy," but the aroma of the food outweighed it all. There was a wide menu of burritos, some with roasted vegetables, some with tofu, some with chicken....

A girl told me today as we walked from the post office back to the dorm that I always seemed "SO put together." It made me smile, but all I could say was thank you. I couldn't explain to her the endless reasons behind my composure.

In the evening when I got back from the gym, we all gathered in a HUGE traced out 2014 on the lawn in the commons in identical DUKE shirts for pictures and a speech from the coach. For each shot, the coach made us yell, all 1,750 of us, so loud that UNC would be able to hear our boo-ing Carolina from miles away.

I waited for the stampede that bolted into the Marketplace for dinner to pass, and then I walked in and sat next to a girl from Michigan and a girl from California. They were very, very sweet, and they thought I was very, very brave to just sit down and introduce myself. We exchanged numbers after an enjoyable conversation about vegetarians and meat eaters. haha.

I think I finally finished scheduling my classes for Monday...I cannot wait to see what the professors are like.

A taste of Duke

When I got here on Tuesday, I thought to myself.."why am I here?...I don't belong here...I'm so uncomfortable here.." No air conditioning.

It seemed like nothing would go right. It was beyond hectic. As soon as we moved in, orientation week began. I hardly had the chance to unravel. I didn't know where anything was. I didn't know how to catch a bus or rent a bike. I didn't know where East Campus connected to West Campus. I found myself accidently wandering upon Central Campus.

Last night I took the bus to West Campus to use the gym/pool. That may have been the first time I stepped out of the safety of my dorm room all alone. It took forever to find the bus back to my residential campus. As soon as I got back though, I was invited to the Christian Crusaders Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Party. I stopped by, went to the post office, and went to my dorm to find someone waiting outside for his cookies that I was carrying for him. The noise outside the dorm room bothered me for a little while, but I walked inside and opened the fan I bought and placed it beside my bed.

This morning I woke up to get to a meeting on West Campus for Friday not realizing it was Thursday. When I checked my schedule, I realized I would have to find a bus back to be able to eat breakfast before the next meeting in the lecture hall on East Campus.

I went into the Market Place for breakfast, unsure where to sit with my plate of oatmeal, watermelon, strawberries, half a muffin, and cup of coffee. I sat next to a group of five, who were deep in conversation.

I listened as I nibbled on my strawberries to overhear this conversation about "Dons" and other things unfamiliar to me.
The girl next to me explained that she was telling them about Jamaica.

She taught us about the community system and the Dons that do some bad things in order to be protective of their communities. She described the food vendors that cook and sell fish from the sea right in front of you. She shared her taste of Hannah Montana and Grey's Anatomy on USA television in Jamaica. She told us about the music..even Sean Paul.

I loved it. This is why I'm here. I have learned something new every second on this campus...I met a boy from Puerto Rico, a girl from Egypt, a boy from London, someone from Rhode Island...It's so different, yet so amazing.

My lecture this morning was by a professor who specialized in Behavioral Finance. She taught us how we are biased to make decisions. She exposed us to the topic by showing us visuals of two lines and how our eyes and brain deceive us. She showed us a man's face in a picture of a lion and how once you see something, you can't NOT see it...and the importance of being patient with those that it takes a little longer to see or understand something in any subject. She taught us Risk Aversion and Planning Fallacy. She explained that in our classes of 300, there would be some that would ask questions that we may not understand, and hear answers that go over our heads, the questions would only come from about 15-20 of the 300 students. every time...some just showing off, some just who had intensive Econ course experience. But the vast majority would be just like me, lost, scared. It would take courage to ask a question that I thought stupid, but it would help the 280 or so others as well as me to ask it.

She told us standards of our grades would have to change. Everyone here represents the top of his or here class. In a giant unit of bright minds, A's may not be common, A-'s, even B's may not be attainable. Expectations will have to change. C's may be inevitable..She told us that does not mean we should transfer out..it's common..

I loved the lecture, and although it wasn't a class, I cannot wait until classes start on Monday to experience professors that speak with so much passion and are able to convey so well what they are explaining.

I'm about to go meet with my advisor for schedule check.