Transcript:

Kira:

Hi there. You're listening to GEAR UP, the Duke Career Center's student-produced podcast, showcasing stories and advice for campus and beyond. My name is Kira, and today we have two guests with us to talk about ways to design your best Duke experience. Hello and welcome.

Katherine Jo:

Hi, Kira. I'm Katherine Jo. I am an academic guide here at Duke. I'm a member of a new team within Duke's Undergraduate Education, and our team provides comprehensive academic support within the residence halls on West Campus. I attended Harvard as an undergrad, and I studied sociology there.

Audrey Fenske:

Hi, my name is Audrey Fenske. I'm a program assistant with the Duke University Career Center. I'm also a Duke alum. I graduated in 2009, and I graduated with Bachelor's in dance and also in psychology.

Kira:

So cool. I'm really excited to hear your guys' stories today. So, Katherine, could you tell me a little bit more about what exactly the academic guides do in practice?

Katherine Jo:

Sure. Overall we are there to help students pursue their academic excellence within the context of their overall wellbeing. But what that kind of means is that when we meet with students, we're really there to find out sort of what do they care about, what are their interests, what are they struggling with, and help them navigate the various decisions and challenges they face at Duke and to connect them with the resources that are at the University that are going to help them thrive while they're there. So, additionally, because we're assigned to specific residential halls, we're also there to help build an overall learning community that is going to support them in navigating their time at Duke and helping them thrive.

Kira:

Absolutely. Wow. That sounds so important. I'm excited that returning to campus, I hopefully can be an attendee at some of these events.

Katherine Jo:

We'd love to have you.

Kira:

Audrey, you had mentioned as an alum of Duke and the undergraduate experience, thinking back to your first year ... We're hoping that this episode is especially geared towards first-year students ... What do you wish that you had savored more during your first year of experience?

Audrey Fenske:

That's a really good question. The fact that all first-year students come to Duke from all over the world and they all go through some of the same experiences just right from the get-go all together. I'm thinking specifically about orientation week, which I know looks a little different in 2020, but there's still a great deal of programs and new information and things like that that first-year students all kind of get thrown into all together.

So everybody's learning all together and growing all together. That coupled with just the thrill of being in college for the first time and riding the bus and introducing yourself to everybody you can on the bus and trying to meet as many people as you can and have as many new experiences as possible. I think at Duke, I think it's uniquely wonderful because Duke really knows that all first-year students are going through that same experience all together, and they tailor so much programming and so many events for first-year students. I loved taking advantage of all those as a student and as I've watched that kind of first-year programming grow throughout the years, there's even more for students now to take advantage of. So, oh, I wish I could go back to that time and introduce myself to 100 more people than what I did. But it was still so exciting at the time.

Kira:

I think the people are so special. Ultimately that's what, when you leave campus, that's what sticks around. It's not the building, it's not being in class, it's the people and the knowledge that you get to take on.

So with all of that, especially for first-year students coming on campus and having so many different opportunities thrown at them and available, which is in my opinion ultimately a blessing but sometimes in the moment can feel like