Approximately 946 days ago, as I registered for my
first Women's Studies course at Duke, I expected the class to be an
interesting interlude to my pre-med heavy course-load. I was planning on majoring in Biology, shuffling amongst the thousands of
other pre-med students trying to survive weed-out classes and
nightmare-inducing chemistry exams. Approximately halfway through my time in Gender and Everyday Life, the introductory course in Women's
Studies, I found myself contemplating a double major in Biology and Women's Studies.
A year later, after having taken three more
courses in the Women's Studies program, I found myself declaring a Women's
Studies major with a minor in Biology.
This course of events was not one that I could have predicted, or one that I would have imagined for myself three years ago as a fresh-faced (and slightly naive) first-year student. That first Women's Studies class started me on a journey that I have yet to complete, one which continues to surprise me, but nonetheless one which I have never regretted. Were it not for my Women's Studies courses,I can definitively assert that I would never have flourished to the extent that I have within Duke's thriving activist community.
From my work as the co-director of the Center for Race Relations Common Ground Retreat, to my advocacy on the Executive Board of Duke's LGBTQ undergraduate student group Blue Devils United
BDU), and even within my position as a Resident Assistant for Kilgo Quad, my impact in each of these arenas would have been extremely limited, and in some cases non-existent, were it not for my experiences within Women's Studies. These incredible WST professors instilled in me a sense of power and agency, as both a student and a woman, a feeling I have yet to experience in any other department. Were it not for Women's Studies, I cannot imagine that I would have been open to pursuing the expansive and varied opportunities that have made my time at Duke a truly unforgettable experience.
As I look back over my Duke career, and particularly
my time spent within Women's Studies, I am struck by the way in which the
courses I have taken have informed both my current and future endeavors. My feminist education has informed my ideas
related to the intersectionalities of all types of oppression, and consequently
directly informed my experiences within groups such as the Center for Race
Relations, addressing all forms of identity on Duke's campus and creating a
campus open to dialogue amongst diverse communities. It is mind-blowing to know
that my activism on campus, and the change that I have seen grow from this
activism might never have come to fruition without the foundation in collective
oppression and productive activism that my courses in Women's Studies afforded
me.
I have so much to be thankful for with regards to the opportunities that
Duke has offered me -- having the chance to study with some of the most
incredible feminist role models a woman could hope for. As I set off to the
world outside the boundaries of this campus, I am comforted by the knowledge
that everything I have learned through my time in the Women's Studies program
will serve me extremely well as I continue to work for causes at the
intersection of social justice movements within the United States.