Mid-March marks the start of the last term for the MQM Class of 2023. Capstone projects are in full swing, and the job hunt is on. Amid what will probably be the quickest six weeks of my life, I remember the journey that brought me here and where I was one year ago. In March of 2022, I was driving down from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to attend the Blue Devil Experience and visit the world that would become my home for the next year of my life.

Blue Devil Experience is an admitted students’ weekend for the one-year master’s program students to experience life at Fuqua. I remember beginning my Friday in Durham eating lunch at the Fox Center with other admitted students and current MQM students. It’s hard to believe I’m at the same point in the program now that those students were then. In Geneen Auditorium, Dean Bill Boulding welcomed us as the newest members of Team Fuqua. We then received a mock lecture on cross-cultural leadership from Professor Jeremy Petranka, Associate Dean of the MQM program. Though this lecture was only a fraction of the academic experience we’d begin in July, we all left the lecture feeling eager to start the program as soon as possible. That evening we got a glimpse of social opportunities outside of class. We went to Boxcar Bar & Arcade for a night full of food, drinks, and games.

Blue Devil Experience allowed me to hit the ground running come July. For many students, myself included, moving to North Carolina is a big move away from home. So, already being familiar with the Fuqua building, Duke’s campus, and downtown Durham was a very comforting feeling that helped get rid of those first-day nerves. When orientation rolls around in the summer, you will already recognize the friendly faces you met in the spring. I even met one of my closest friends in the MQM program during Blue Devil Experience!

Me (left) and the friend I made at my Blue Devil Experience at the NC Museum of History Taylor Swift Exhibit, March 2023"
Me (left) and the friend I made at my Blue Devil Experience at the “Power of Women in Country Music” exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History, March 2023

As an Admissions Ambassador, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as a Blue Devil Experience co-chair and help plan this year’s admitted students’ weekend! I’m looking forward to meeting the newest members of Team Fuqua. Whether you visit campus through an admitted students weekend or on your own, I suggest you roam around Duke’s main campus, and buy yourself some merch from the bookstore to show off your Blue Devil pride, and walk through the Sarah P. Duke Gardens before you leave.