There I was, a 5’2” wide-eyed freshman, strolling past the towering basketball players onto center court.  Every seat in Cameron was filled.  My breath began to quicken.  Hyperventilation became a possibility.  The noise echoing throughout the stadium was deafening.  The student section had yet to take a break from their incessant chants of “Our House!” My acapella group, Déjà Blue, had been selected to sing the National Anthem at Countdown to Craziness- our basketball season kickoff pep rally.  Adrenaline rushed through my body as Cameron quieted in preparation for us to begin.  I took a slow, calculated breath and tried to listen for my starting note.  To my surprise the right note came soaring out without any indication of the shaking body it had exited.  No, I wasn’t the star that day. Scheyer and Singler had that in the bag.  Yet, there I was, center court doing what I love to do, sing, for thousands of people.  I am only a freshman, and already I have had so many unexpected and wonderful experiences at Duke.

I came to campus two weeks before freshman orientation.  Instead of packing my parent’s car with posters, lamps, and comforters, I was throwing hiking boots, a sleeping bag, and a 70-liter backpack into the trunk.  I was headed to Duke’s most hardcore freshman pre-orientation program: Project Wild (PWild) to backpack in the Pisgah National Forest.  No showers, no tents, no fires, and all the food you need for two weeks carried on your back.  At night, under our tarp, we would spend hours sharing our life stories and dreams. I ended those two weeks with genuine friendships. PWild was such a memorable experience, that I am preparing to become a crew leader for next summer’s pre-orientation program.  More surprising than that, I’ve even changed my spring break plans from lounging on the beach to backpacking through the snow with my fellow PWild enthusiasts.

While PWild was my first experience as a Duke student, my connection to Duke did not begin there.  It began at finalist weekend.  At the BN Bonanza I decided, if granted the opportunity, I must be a BN.  I was sitting at a table, slightly intimidated by all the amazing people surrounding me, watching a slide show. Picture after picture shuffled by, depicting BNs together  Although the scholars had been telling me all along that the BN was a ‘family,’ I never understood it until then.  These people liked each other, cared about each other, and given the option, chose to spend to spend time with one another. Now as a scholar, I know how true my impressions were.

My most memorable BN experience this year was a leadership workshop with my scholar class.  In the past I had attended numerous leadership conferences, and they were largely unremarkable.  However, this workshop was different.  We were encouraged to be honest with ourselves, and honest with each other.  It was both emotionally draining and exhilarating.  While I had respected the people in my scholarship class, this workshop pushed us all into a deeper appreciation and understanding of one another.  Duke University is an amazing place, but having the BN experience and family in addition is invaluable. My advice to any incoming Duke student would be to expect the unexpected. You can never predict what your college experience will entail, but you can rest assured that the BN family will be there to support you in every way they can.