My Duke career feels like a patchwork quilt. A variety of experiences brought together to form a Duke student. Each memory feels distinct yet somehow still able to influence me at every turn.
When I look at all of the classes, extracurricular, and social experiences I have had Duke, I am not quite certain what, if anything, I have learned. Sure, I could tell you about keto-enol tautomerism or the social and legal rights of Roman freedwomen but how does that become one singular education or inform an individual.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I have yet to have my “I’ve learned something today” moment—a conscious summarization of the lessons and knowledge I have gained in my Duke experience.
To me that is the most frightening realization of all in the face of graduation’s inevitability. Even now in the final week of my Duke career I am still learning from my experiences and processing my emotions here. I still have yet to learn the whole truth of my Duke education and experience.
I guess that closure is never guaranteed. That I will not truly understand what I have learned until I begin to apply my experiences to the real world. Maybe as I hopefully become employed and maybe proceed to medical school my experiences at Duke will begin to awaken a deeper meaning. Then I will begin to understand that while not all specific facts are directly applicable to the real world, the trials and tribulations I have experienced are. I will get busy applying my education rather than just ruminating on it.
However, such a realization only raises deeper questions about departing from this campus. After all, if I am truly not done understanding the importance of the past four years, then what happens to the experiences I have not finished understanding. What am I leaving behind at Duke? More importantly, how do I accept the fact that I am leaving these experiences behind?
This question is one I have had more success answering. It has helped to identify two types of experiences for me at Duke. The ones that are ephemeral and the ones that have a lasting impact. The ephemeral ones are easy to recognize—the cold of a tenting season, the warmth of a Duke spring, the regret of going to Shooters, again and again.
The experiences that actually last though are harder to identify. They are the ones that matter the most, are worth stopping to examine, and ultimately make you a part of everyone else’s Duke experience.
These are the things that are not gone forever—that will continue to remain a part of us even after we leave. The lessons one might learn from yet another constructive discussion with a close friend. The fortitude one might build from procrastinating a final after playing yet another game of Catan. The empathy you have practiced from building relationships with a wide range of individuals. These are the experiences that I have only just begun to understand and that will continue to remain a part of me after my Duke experience.
The ephemeral moments and bursts of emotions are the ones that ultimately warrant us saying “goodbye.” But for the experiences that remain a part of us and the relationships we wish to continue, we must say something else.
There is a German parting phrase: “auf Wiedersehen.” Rather than “goodbye,” it means “until I see you again.” Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, we do eventually grow older. Thus, to many things at Duke—late nights at Perkins, warm afternoons on the Quad and Central Campus itself–we must say goodbye. But to the teachers and friends we had here, I say, “auf Wiedersehen.”
Signing off,
George Slade Mellgard II, (now) former Chronicle columnist, former Duke Student Government vice president of residential Life, former vice president of recruitment for the Interfraternity Council, former director of entertainment and transportation for Project BUILD, King of Kings, Mother of Dragons, and (soon to be former) Duke undergraduate student.
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