I can think of nothing greater than surviving some of the hardest working conditions, escaping, and somehow, against all odds, building a life for yourself and your family. That is courage. That is perseverance. That is a kind of success no résumé bullet point will ever capture.
My female peers and I often have conversations where we question whether we’re good enough for the classes that we take. Yet, we push through those moments of doubt — not because we inherently believe we belong, but because we refuse to bow to the pressure of a society that still questions our place in STEM.
You’re alive and you’re here. That fact in itself is the combination of uncountable unlikely probabilities. Call that friend. Hit the gym. Climb a mountain. Explore the world, and in doing so, find more of yourself. Even through darkness, there is so much beauty and wonder waiting for us if we only choose to see it.
Across the country, American universities generally lag behind Australian and German institutions, where eco-friendly practices are embedded in campus life and enforced by state-backed policies.
As a visiting international student from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, Duke has been the adventure of a lifetime. Yet, I’ve become acutely aware that while all universities aim to educate and mentor capable, confident students, they approach this goal with very different ideologies.
