As you complete the Activities section, use this space to highlight one activity that is meaningful to you, whether it's from paid work, home or family responsibilities, or extracurricular activities. Consider all of the ways you spend your time outside the classroom, and tell us about the thing that matters to you most and why.
What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there's something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well.
Hey everyone! I wanted to share one of my FIRST draft supplemental essays and would appreciate any honest feedback. The last part is what I would adapt for my "Why Duke" essay if Questbridge doesn't work out. I feel like this draft is heading in the right direction, but I'm open to any suggestions or critiques that could strengthen it. Please be brutally honest, and let me know your thoughts. Thanks so much, and I'm looking forward to hearing back from you all!
There's nothing we can do." I froze , looking across the table at a state senator - a man elected to represent us- and asked,"but you do represent us what do you mean there's nothing you can do" I starred in disbelief as he shook his head "I'm sorry."
The silence after his words felt heavier than the room. Because my little brother Giovanni, who has autism had already been waiting seven months for the speech therapy he needed. Seven months of my mom making phone call after phone call. Seven months of watching him
struggle to form words at the table, wishing I could fix it for him . Giovanni is not "nothing" he's laughter that fills the dinner table, endless questions about dinosaurs and a light in my life. Yet sitting across from the senator, it felt like the system had decided he didn't matter.
I wasn't going to take that for answer. I couldn't just sit back and listen. So I spoke at rallies and in front of the General Assembly. I founded the first Teenage Democrats chapter in my county and served on the NC Teen Democrats executive board. I was honored with the ability to serve as a Governors Page where I presentented a policy proposal on equity in education, even receiving an award for my service. I've walked into rooms I never imagined id enter and every time, I carried Giovanni with me.
Politics became personal becoming the way I protect my family and fight for people who don't have the ability to. When I speak, im not just speaking for myself. I'm speaking for Giovanni and every student who's been told they're too much.
"There's nothing we can do" isn't good enough. Not for Giovanni. Not for me.Not for the 203,000 students with a disability across North Carolina waiting to be seen. As long as I have a voice I'll keep using it , until silence is no longer an answer.
At Duke Sanford, I'd be able to move beyond telling my brother's story and gain the tools to rewrite it. The graduate course Community-Based Research on Early Childhood Policy and Practice would allow me to partner with local organizations to create policies that reduce wait times for therapy, thereby creating solutions to frustration. Or, by building the ground up through the undergraduate seminar Child Policy Research, I'll gain an interdisciplinary lens to better understand how families, schools, and community systems shape access to care. Further, pursuing the Child Policy Research Certificate via the Center for Child and Family Policy would let me frame advocacy within evidence-based cross-disciplinary strategies, exactly what's needed to transform "there's nothing we can do" into "this is what we will do."
What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there's something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well.
Hey everyone! I wanted to share one of my FIRST draft supplemental essays and would appreciate any honest feedback. The last part is what I would adapt for my "Why Duke" essay if Questbridge doesn't work out. I feel like this draft is heading in the right direction, but I'm open to any suggestions or critiques that could strengthen it. Please be brutally honest, and let me know your thoughts. Thanks so much, and I'm looking forward to hearing back from you all!
There's nothing we can do." I froze , looking across the table at a state senator - a man elected to represent us- and asked,"but you do represent us what do you mean there's nothing you can do" I starred in disbelief as he shook his head "I'm sorry."
The silence after his words felt heavier than the room. Because my little brother Giovanni, who has autism had already been waiting seven months for the speech therapy he needed. Seven months of my mom making phone call after phone call. Seven months of watching him
struggle to form words at the table, wishing I could fix it for him . Giovanni is not "nothing" he's laughter that fills the dinner table, endless questions about dinosaurs and a light in my life. Yet sitting across from the senator, it felt like the system had decided he didn't matter.
I wasn't going to take that for answer. I couldn't just sit back and listen. So I spoke at rallies and in front of the General Assembly. I founded the first Teenage Democrats chapter in my county and served on the NC Teen Democrats executive board. I was honored with the ability to serve as a Governors Page where I presentented a policy proposal on equity in education, even receiving an award for my service. I've walked into rooms I never imagined id enter and every time, I carried Giovanni with me.
Politics became personal becoming the way I protect my family and fight for people who don't have the ability to. When I speak, im not just speaking for myself. I'm speaking for Giovanni and every student who's been told they're too much.
"There's nothing we can do" isn't good enough. Not for Giovanni. Not for me.Not for the 203,000 students with a disability across North Carolina waiting to be seen. As long as I have a voice I'll keep using it , until silence is no longer an answer.
At Duke Sanford, I'd be able to move beyond telling my brother's story and gain the tools to rewrite it. The graduate course Community-Based Research on Early Childhood Policy and Practice would allow me to partner with local organizations to create policies that reduce wait times for therapy, thereby creating solutions to frustration. Or, by building the ground up through the undergraduate seminar Child Policy Research, I'll gain an interdisciplinary lens to better understand how families, schools, and community systems shape access to care. Further, pursuing the Child Policy Research Certificate via the Center for Child and Family Policy would let me frame advocacy within evidence-based cross-disciplinary strategies, exactly what's needed to transform "there's nothing we can do" into "this is what we will do."
