I lived and died by the rule of ‘no new friends’ long before Drake made it cool, but this made my transition to Duke very difficult.
Naive.
That’s probably the best way to describe her. And by her, I mean me as a freshman. I arrived at Duke thinking that this new chapter of my life would be so much better than the life I was leaving behind. I thought that I would fit in instantly, make plenty of new friends and would finally get to let my hair down after four long years in high school.
It’s not that high school was that bad, it was just that I never quite felt like I fit into any particular group. I had my childhood friends, but we started to drift apart in high school as our priorities changed. This meant, though, that I didn’t really know how to make friends. I had been friends with the same people for so long that I was severely out of practice.
I cried every day of my first semester. I didn’t make friends during O-week like it seemed everyone else had and classes were way harder than I expected—I made the mistake of thinking I was good at math. I had a spot on the first floor of Blackwell, down the hall from my room, on the window bench, where I would sit and talk to my parents and cry to them about how I wanted to come home. I owe them an apology for all of those phone calls, sometimes more than one a day, and I commend them for having the strength to tell me that things would get better and that I would get through it.
As much as I hate to admit it, my parents were right about everything. By second semester, things were better. I met The Biddies, a group of people who have shown me that it is possible to laugh at, love and be incredibly appalled by their antics on a daily basis (although I think I’ve gotten better since my freshman year). I joined Club Soccer and built lasting relationships with my class and the two classes above me and I look forward to our semi-annual reunions. And finally, I started taking photos for The Chronicle.
I am so glad that my roommate let me tag along to a photo meeting during our freshman spring. The Chronicle gave me a voice on this campus. At a place where I initially felt so small and insignificant, I now feel important.
It wasn’t just this year when thousands of people picked up the 1K supplement or the National Championship issue. It was also my three years as the unofficial beat photographer for Academic Council, where I learned almost everything there is to know about Duke Kunshan University. Or the time that I convinced the sports department to let me notch my first byline on the Iowa capsule. It didn’t matter to me how many people saw it, it just mattered that someone did.
As I look back on my last four years, I no longer feel like that naive freshman that thought everything was going be perfect. Duke has become my home (my mom hates that I call it that) and in the process has taught me a thing or two about managing expectations. However, in a few short weeks when it is time to move on, I know that I will once again be that girl that cries about leaving home.
Brianna Siracuse is a Trinity senior and sports photography editor of The Chronicle. She would like to thank all of the people that kept her sane this past year including Sophia, Danielle, Nick, Ryan, Amrith, Emma, Izzi, Eliza, her parents and everyone else. She would also like to thank Elysia for bringing her to that first meeting and for being an awesome roommate for the past four years.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.