​Seeking out the bright side

With recent campus controversies and academic and personal stresses weighing heavily on our minds, it is easy to become disillusioned and fatigued by life at Duke. Caught in the daily grind of classes and extracurriculars, we sometimes lose the sense of wonder that we start off with on East Campus and each semester. Yet the arrival of Thanksgiving Break gives us space to breathe before finals and time for well-deserved rest, thankfulness and reflection. In light of this, we take a moment to celebrate some of the things we are grateful for and proud of as a Duke community.

With one month to go in 2015, Duke has notched its belt with several achievements as an academic powerhouse. Paul Modrich, professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine, received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on how mistakes in DNA are repaired. He became the second standing Duke faculty member to be honored with the award in just four years. These awards represent the culmination of decades of hard work and commitment to scientific research at Duke. In addition to attracting talented career faculty members, we are also producing young intellectual leaders. Most recently, three seniors—Jay Ruckelshaus, Laura Roberts and Wills Rooney—were awarded two Rhodes Scholarships and a Mitchell Scholarship respectively, highly prestigious accolades. For incoming students, the launch of the Washington Duke Scholars program this month promises to enrich first-generation student experiences in an excitingly holistic way. All the while, the Duke Forward campaign is moving to a successful finish and will enable Duke to grow for years to come in its financial aid packages, program offerings and overall student experience.

Of course construction too is, in its own way, something to be thankful for. After months of unsightly blue fences and inconvenient detours, students can at last enjoy the Rubenstein Library, Edge, Bolt and Foundry, among other projects. While construction plows ever onwards, we should keep up our excitement because some of the biggest projects remain in the West Union, new Student Health and Wellness Center and the Arts Center on Campus Drive.

In their own way, students have been busy building on campus too with social and cultural events old and new. Traditions like the International Food Fest, AWAAZ and November Dances have grown more successful with each successive year and establish a vibrant cultural and artistic life at Duke. A range of accomplished and thought-provoking speakers from Maziar Bahari, Patrisse Cullors and Scott Dikkers to Jonathan Butler, Jack Matlock and Jenna Marbles have sparked conversation and reminded us of the real-world context beyond the boundaries of campus.

Needless to say, Duke’s student athletes continue to give us cause for celebration. Our impressive field hockey team made it to the semifinals of their NCAA tournament, and women’s soccer advanced to the elite eight. In men’s basketball, the commitment of players like Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum to next year’s line-up stir excitement even as this year’s squad grows.

Yet some of the most meaningful reasons to be thankful come in the form of our daily interactions: the closest of friendships, bonds and communities we cherish at Duke. Whether they manifest in surprise birthday parties, late-night intellectual conversations or quiet companionship during rough times, these acts of love and friendship constitute some of the most memorable parts of our college experience.

Last but not least, we are grateful for Thanksgiving Break. Whether spent at home, on campus or somewhere in between, students should take these five days to relax, put down their phones for a few minutes and recharge their mental and emotional batteries in the company of good food, family and friends.