Undecided major--interested in public policy and biology with a journalism certificate
After taking the Duke in Alaska Biodiversity in Alaska course, I didn’t book a ticket out of Alaska and spent an extra month there traveling with no plans and hitchhiking/catching rides. I ended up making friends with random amazing Alaskans and got to see a lot of Alaska! I even learned how to bolt rock-climbing routes outside and bolted my own route in Valdez.
I’m a staff reporter for the Duke Chronicle and I especially love long form writing. I’m in Outing Club and love everything in the mountains. I also spent a few years in high school interning for senatorial and presidential political campaigns and even canvassed a bit in Alaska this past month because my friend who was hosting me in Anchorage’s boss was running for re-election in the State house. I like traveling and making all kinds of different friends around the world from every continent. I think that the ability to make long lasting friendships with strangers from random places like a restaurant in Iran or the climbing wall in Alaska is a good skill to have as a journalist. I want to do journalism as a profession because I never want to stop writing, putting myself out there, always learning new things, seeing new places, listening to stories and sharing those important stories.