Dear Incoming Duke Freshmen...

hey guys my name is simply Webber I'm a rising sophomore at Duke University and I want to be among the first to congratulate you on getting into one of the top universities in the world here let me show you why Duke is so great come on let's go on a little trip you're coming with me put that on the back of the car this is before to load up with Stephanie leaving the house I distinctly remember the night before heading off to do like it was yesterday we had everything crossed off of our Bed Bath & Beyond list and we shoved everything into the back of my mom's car and the next morning we were on our way to Durham now I'm from Charlotte North Carolina which is about a two and a half hour drive from Durham and I'm moving day that two and a half hour drive was nerve-racking to be completely honest I was terrified to start fresh I mean in high school you know you meet your friends you develop relationships and everything's fine but then you have to go to a new school away from home and somehow survive on your own I'm it's it's terrifying it's absolutely terrifying I was quite relieved when I arrived on East Campus on move-in day upon arrival I was greeted by a group of friendly first-year advisory counselors they helped me unpack my car and move my things to my dorm room thank goodness for that they made the entire moving process a whole lot smoother after a long day of unpacking organizing and reshelving my room finally took form ah eath campus isn't it beautiful now this is where you'll be staying as a freshman my freshman year I stayed in the dorm Blackwell which is located in neighborhood for once you unpack and get all of your items situated orientation week better known as Oh week begins Oh week is your chance to get to know your classmates during o-week you're given an itinerary that is jam-packed with activities you can participate in during my Oh week we were given the opportunity to have a late night target run for any last-minute school supplies that we needed before I knew it oh it was over and I was starting my first day of college I made a few friends during o-week but once classes picked up people started keeping to themselves and focusing on their studies but there was one friend who stood by my side the entire school year this is my best friend Lia Lia and I became friends because we were in the same facts group or first year advising council group a lot of dude students will tell you that the friendships you make during o-week don't typically last luckily in my case Lia and I remained friends for the entire school year so much so that we wanted to be roommates sophomore year over time I branched out and met even more amazing freshmen when thinking of a name for our friend group we came up with squad as the year went on squad practically became my family as a squad we did everything together we would have squad dinners we would explore West Campus together we even did homework together squad made freshman year so enjoyable I honestly couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to spend freshman year with during the warmer months me and some friends would study on the quad and most of the time those study sessions would become dance sessions and after completing our first week of college my roommate Charlene and I decided to have a dance party of our own during your first couple of weeks as a freshman you may feel inclined to take hundreds of photos of the chapel and hopefully during your first couple of weeks you'll visit a Duke football game the games are always so much fun and there's usually free merch too you'll probably have made your way to shooters and you'll probably have made your way to cafe Eden's by now as well you're gonna have morning's where you feel happy and dandy and ready to start the day and I hate to say it but there will also be days where you feel like tossing your homework out the door literally and after you toss your homework out the door you and your friend say hey let's skateboard in the hallway after goofing off with your friends for a bit you realize you should probably get back to that assignment that's due tomorrow and how could I forget about Marketplace marketplace is the main cafeteria for freshmen it's a main hub for socializing and you better believe marketplace will have a leaf free fire alarms go off during the semester oh and if you find yourself leaving Perkins late one night just look around and realize how much West resembles Hogwarts anyways one of the many things that I love about Duke is that even though you may feel overwhelmed with assignments you can always find positivity in the environment oh man there was something else that was really important that I wanted to talk about ah almost forgot get basketball okay let's be real along with academics basketball is a huge part of the Duke community the way I see it the Duke basketball program is an ongoing dynasty of greatness schools from all across the nation attempt to imitate us but they just can't I think it's safe to say that there is no other fanbase in the world quite as epic as the Cameron Crazies hey guys look I made it on ESPN got me go me go go go me uh I guess I must inform you that there is an uglier and lighter shade of blue that resides a couple miles down the road from us in a dark place called Chapel Hill and it's always a good day Duke when we beat Chapel Hill and basketball oh okay hey how did that hold this stuff get here Gregson Allen's Jersey what as I was saying your main takeaway from this video should be that Duke offers so much learning is all around you and there's always something going on around campus so what advice do I have for the incoming freshmen do your best leave the rest be yourself and everything will be just fine having a solid group of friends is a huge part of the college experience so get out there and find yourself some people who keep you sane my freshman year went by in the blink of an eye so please savor every moment it goes by so quickly incoming freshmen I wish you best of luck with your first year at Duke having said all that hopefully I gave you an idea of what your freshman year at Duke will be like but remember freshman year is there for you to make your own memories your own mistakes and for you to have your own experiences but feel free to ask me or any of your upperclassmen peers for help when you need it we were all in your place at one point in time and it wasn't pretty really wasn't but um you know we worked through it we got really here we are was alive okay but yeah um feel free to ask any of your upperclassman peers for help when you need it uh you know we'll gladly help you out with whatever you need feel free to contact me I'll put my contact information somewhere here I don't know but um yeah I'll put my information here so you can contact me um if you have any questions but um yeah go Duke go Duke

Channel: Symphony Webber

Views: 22,985

Rating: 4.9533529 out of 5

Keywords: Duke, College, Blue Devils, Freshman year

Id: VlUo8iEUXjo

Length: 9min 9sec (549 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 13 2016