Even after my first year at Duke, I still felt as though I never found myself appreciating Durham for what it was. Coming from the Bay Area, I often longed for the pleasant, predictable California weather and the view of the familiar San Francisco skyline throughout the year. It thus came as a surprise to my friends when I informed them that I would be participating in the Durham program for DukeEngage. I myself was surprised by my seemingly ironic decision to willingly commit to staying six extra weeks at North Carolina, but I also had clear intentions. I had honestly not left campus very often during the school year and often felt that I never really got to know Durham beyond the “Duke bubble.” I feel pretty comfortable saying that I now know the ins and outs of Duke; now, by exposing myself to the community within the city as well as the organizations and foundations that allow it to run smoothly, I hoped to finally gain a better idea of what Durham is.
I myself was surprised by my seemingly ironic decision to willingly commit to staying six extra weeks at North Carolina, but I also had clear intentions. I had honestly not left campus very often during the school year and often felt that I never really got to know Durham beyond the “Duke bubble.”
After checking in to our apartments, we promptly started work the next day. I work at the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, where my new DukeEngage friend Joyce and I are helping the office organize their annual YouthWork Internship program. The program allows youth between ages 14 and 24 to receive training for paid internships provided by various organizations around the city, such as Duke Health and BETC. I was initially very excited to get working, but my enthusiasm was quickly silenced by the vast amount of paperwork we had to do for our first three days. Truth be told, I started to question myself—did I really just agree to spend my entire summer entering data and filling in paperwork?
During our fourth day of work, one of our supervisors at OEWD, Adria, took us to Durham Tech. There, we discussed the general plan for the summer program and mapped out where certain activities would take place. It was only then that I finally realized why we had to toil through papers the past few days, and that our work was really leading to a tangible difference in the youth of Durham. Since then, not only have we been able to engage in more interactive tasks like sitting in on city council meetings and researching into potential activities for the program, but also I have become more optimistic and eager regarding the future of Durham and our involvement in it. This enthusiasm has really carried over to our group activities as well, from our visit to Stagville and our panel discussion with notable residents including mayor Steve Schewel and Dr. Phail Wynn Jr.
It’s seriously crazy that it hasn’t even been two weeks, considering how much my perspective of Durham has flipped for the better in that time. I’m truly excited to see where my next couple of weeks at OEWD take me and the challenges and opportunities our DukeEngage team come across as we continue to discover more and more of Durham.