DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

Select an intriguing client or a co-worker at your organization to interview about his or her life. Focus on moments that were defining experiences for them and their development. It may be helpful to transcribe the most interesting parts of the interview. Write about why you selected this person, what struck you the most about the interview, and what you have learned about yourself and/or how you want to live your life.

At the Eno River project, there was only one co-worker to choose from. Zach, a fellow undergrad from Pennsylvania who worked with us on Thursdays, was taken by Peter to be interviewed. With this kerfuffle evident to me, I had no choice but to interview a non-human, yet still-pertinent subject, a Tree of Heaven found at 36° 3.573'N, 78° 58.680'W (where Cole Mill Road crosses over the Eno River). My interview begins as follows.

Drummer: Hey, what's your name, tree?
Tree: Freddie.
Drummer: Freddie who?
Freddie: Freddie McForester III
Drummer: Ah, I see. So, how long have you been here?
Freddie: Since I was born.
Drummer: Which is...
Freddie: 27 years.
Drummer: Wow, that's a long time, Freddie. How does that feel, being so old?
Freddie: Actually, I'm not that old, really.
Drummer: Oh, ok. Well. Freddie, how does it feel to be living along the Eno?
Freddie: Oh it's a quiet life. I live in relative peace because my chemical makeup happens to acidify the soil around me, meaning that all the native plants either keep their distance or die slowly and painfully. The only plants I care to talk to are the seedlings nearby me, which are similar to me.
Drummer: Similar how?
Freddie: Well they like what I'm doing to the soil. See, they are also immigrants too.
Drummer: You're an immigant?
Freddie: Yes. I came from Asia.
Drummer: Are you an illegal immigrant?
Freddie: What if I told you I was? Are you going to chop me down?
Drummer: Maybe I would. You really don't belong in North Carolina, you know.
Freddie: So? Who cares? I've been allowed to grow to be over 50 feet tall inside a North Carolina State Park for 27 years. That's 27 years' worth of ignorance on the part of Park Rangers.
Drummer: So you admit it then.
Freddie: Sure I do. I even speak Chinese. My real name is actually 臭椿.
Drummer: So you know that you are a hazard, yet you continue to reproduce. Is this true?
Freddie: Heck yeah it is! I mean, come on! How many people can truly say they hate me anyway? I know plants and animals do, but they can't do anything about it but keep away from me. But just for the record, those seedlings over there are not mine. They came from the road, the dirty orphans...
Drummer: Well, environmentalists keep track of invasives in the hope that they may one day be eradicated by the general populace.
Freddie: Ahahaha! Keeping track of invasives in protective lands is the least of environmentalists' worries. With current state of the U.S. Economy coupled with the increasing costs of oil, most environmentalists will be caring more in the coming decade about conserving energy domestically than wasting energy domestically on ending the fruitful lives of immigrants such as myself.
Drummer: Nice pun, though that theory has many holes...
Freddie: Thank you. You know what else? Durham has had a lengthy history of publicly embracing change while secretly despising it. You interns come to "manage invasive species", but in the end, nothing will change. I will still stay here. Change will move as fast as I shall. It's a fact.
Drummer: You sure are mean spirited.
Freddie: Yeah, well I'm still recovering from the drought if you haven't noticed.
Drummer: Yeah well that may be due to your friend, global warming. Anyhow, what's your stance on illegal human immigration?
Freddie: What do you think?
Drummer: Yeah, that was a stupid question.
Freddie: You bet it was! You know I'm learning Spanish now?
Drummer: How?
Freddie: You know the road right above me, you know by the bridge? It was recently repaved. You know who did the paving? Mexicans. You know where they stopped to eat, rest, and chat? Right in the shade of my branches. Todavia hay mucho necesito aprender.
Drummer: All right, all right. I took Spanish, you know.
Freddie: Good for you.
Drummer: Yeah.
Freddie: Are you done?
Drummer: Sure. You sure are impatient for a tree.
Freddie: I bet you would be pretty short-tempered too if you had a vine of poison ivy growing up your trunk. Now scram.
-End Interview-

Remember if you have any questions, Freddie McForester III can be reached at 36-3-573'N, 78-58-680'W.

-Drummer Barco

I’ve never been a blog writer before, so I feel a little anxious, awkward and excited all at the same time. But I’ve been reading my friends’ travel and service blogs, and I felt like, well, why not? I just don’t know where to start and what to talk about as my first story, spending the summer in Durham for the second year in a row. Yes, I am staying in Durham, and spending my last summer in college in the good old town with DukeEngage, while I could have applied for somewhat fancier, sexier experiences in India, Peru, or South Africa. I had some personal schedule conflict with going abroad due to my friends wedding in the middle of the summer, but I had better reasons to stay here in Durham. A little bit about myself. I’m an international student from Korea who has been in the States for past 7 years, and next semester will be my 8th. I have lost the traditional sense of “home” since I was fifteen and decided to make places that I get to live for long period (more than a couple months at a time) “home.” Greenville, SC, Kansas City, MO, Birmingham, AL, and here Durham have been my homes so far, and Durham will be the home that I will have stayed the longest period. It is a place that has special meaning to my life, because Duke (therefore I along with other Dukies) resides in the city. But we Duke students are all living in a different world from the ones who live outside of the Gothic Wonderland. We just don’t know what’s happening out there, beyond 9th Street and Shooters. Although it is cliché to mention, Duke is part of Durham, whether one thinks Durham sucks or not. As a third year “Durham resident” I literally know almost nothing about the town, other than several places that I have volunteered and areas near Duke such as 9th street and Brightleaf Square. When one does not have not much contact with different parts of herself, she gets incarcerated into her part that is more convenient for her to stick with, and I feel that Durham has been a big part of myself that I have chosen to not to explore. Yet how can I explain this strange sense of belonging and affection to the unknown? I always felt offended when someone trash-talks about Durham (“Durham is a sh**h*le,” “There’s nothing to do here,” “Durham people hate Duke students,” etc.) and that’s what initially motivated me to be in DukeEngage Durham. I wanted to prove that Durham can be an as sexy of a place as Cape Town (and I definitely do NOT mean to put down those who are having great abroad experience!). But as I think about it, choosing Durham was mostly for myself. I have desired to get to know the place and contribute to the community that I owe so much to. I have seen so much to be done --especially in education which is my primary interest— right outside of my comfort zone (Duke zone), and while the problem is right here, right at home, I cannot leave here. I know I cannot solve the entire educational problems, and I am not working in Durham on some kind of heroic missions with self-messianic ego, but I want to contribute my summer to the issues that “my” people are facing. And here I am, given the chance right in front of me. I know I am not serving the entire community's needs (and I can’t possibly do that!), but I hope that this will be a memorable, humbling, learning experience that I will never regret as I influence and get influenced by one child at a time. PS: My internship place by the way... I am working for Emily Krzyzewski Center, as an enrichment bloc programmer for elementary and middle school students while supervising high school interns who will be helping out with the programs and working on their college application processes. It's been very fun and rewarding so far!