A nap, a big hug, some really really good food, and snuggling with your dog are a few of the mental images the âTake What You Needâ board offers. The end of the semester can be a stressful time and while a weekend at the beach would be great, sometimes just taking a moment to imagine yourself on vacation is enough to catch your breath.
Announcement of Nominees
Congratulations to the following students, organizations, faculty and staff, who have been nominated to receive Duke Universityâs most prestigious campus-wide honors for student leadership and service. Awards recipients and nominees will be celebrated at In The Spotlight on April 20, 2017, 5 pm, Arts Annex. The event is open to the Duke community.
Last Thursday, a cozy group gathered for a light brunch with philanthropist and Duke alumna Penny Pilgram George (WC â65), hosted by the Center for Leadership Development and Social Action.
Four dollars. On Duke’s campus, that could get you a single bowl of soup at the Loop. Most of us spend far more than four dollars on each meal we eat, with Duke’s minimum meal plan allotting $20 per day. However, for a great number of North Carolinians, four dollars is all they have to feed themselves each and every day. Four dollars is the daily allowance given by North Carolina’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, also formerly known as Food Stamps. In the month of October in Durham County alone, over 44,000 individuals were utilizing SNAP. Hunger and concern for where one’s next meal will come from is a daily reality for too many.
With the end nigh, I find myself taking the long way home, unnecessarily driving or more accurately crawling up Chapel Drive. Soaking it up as it were. Enjoying the flood of years past washing to the front of my mind.
I’m not alone. Walking to blue zone yesterday, I ran into a block of my friends leaving just having paid tribute to Tailgate with key and can. They were strolling through the Indiana limestone arches visiting their favorite spots on campus. Their next stop: Bella Union, a place that makes living in Edens infinitely better (Few can keep Alpine).
I know that this paragraph will not do justice to my experience during ASB: Arts & Activism. I had the opportunity to be a site leader. The process of planning the logistics and directing the activities during the week challenged me as a leader and as a Duke student.
The new mural completely transforms the front of the the Arts Annex into a new, inviting and exciting front for this creative space.
by Alex Shapanka
Leadership is not just another line on your resume. It’s not something that you can just address during interviews to give your candidacy more credence. It is in fact quite rare to come across great leadership. Yet for some reason, we think this campus is teaming with leaders. Probably because we hand out titles like they’re bin candy on sale.
Having a title next to our name doesn’t mean diddly. DSG president, Vice President of Education for DPS or DUU Major Attractions chair are all just signifiers of responsibility. Inconsequential words. It is the quality of our performance that matters.
by 2012 LeaderShape Institute graduates Sonam Aidasani, T'14, Lindsey Huth, T'15 & Ciera Price, T'14
by Alex Shapanka
Earlier this week, I had a surprise visit from Lindsay Tomson, a friend who graduated from Duke last year. As we drove around Durham, she expressed her nostalgia for college. But Lindsay wasn’t lamenting the loss of parties, late nights or freedom from responsibility. She missed feeling important and the sense of community afforded to us at Duke.
In leaving college, our established reputations remain…in Durham and with those we have relationships. Everything for which we worked is done. I won’t be planning concerts for 6,000 of my peers next year. I won’t help organize KVille. And I won’t be making suggestions through these blog posts. I won’t feel consequential.
